Sword Art Online: Cyber World
by Ten-Faced Paladin
Summary: Kayaba Akihiko has begun his Death Game, but he did not predict one of his employees discovering his plot. A fellow programmer has added his own modifications to the game. A literal game changer. Can its presence in SAO change the doomed fate of so many players or will it just raise the death toll? *Cover by Fenikkusumaru*
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don't like it...well, I can't please everyone. No flames please. They don't contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 1: The Orange Samurai, Arriving On Stage!

**Argus Incorporated - 3rd Branch Nov 5th 11:00 PM**

Tobei Tachibana yawned as he worked on his office computer, once again putting the late night hours into his looked like your typical office minion, wearing a simple white shirt and black trousers with a white lab coat over top of it. He was typical Japanese stock with short black hair and narrow eyes. In terms of looks, he certainly didn't stand out all that much. Fortunately, it was his intellect that made him one of the top workers in Argus' third branch, only one step below Argus' golden child Kayaba Akihiko.

Argus was in a tizzy with their believed Golden Apple about to launch, the much anticipated Sword Art Online. It was a revolutionary new game which would make full use of the Full Dive technology with the use of the new NerveGear helmet which Akihiko had also developed during his time with Argus. It would allow users to fully immerse their consciousness into the games they were connected to. Sword Art Online would be the first game which would emulate the real world almost perfectly. No place was off limits and there were real-world physics in effect would make everything feel real. There would only be smaller details to show it wasn't like the floating menus, the systems which would protect the users from feeling pain to a full degree, and censors keeping things from becoming too sexual or graphic although Tobei knew if SAO was successful, games dealing with things like that would no doubt pop up. Whenever new technology appeared, it was _always_ applied to sex and violence.

Still, Tobei wasn't going to begrudge his superior his accomplishments. Seeing Akihiko in action and how much work he put into his brainchild made Tobei respect him all the more. Still, the programmer was still able to tell a gravy train when he saw one. Sword Art Online was going to be a huge hit once to became readily available. Having only 10, 000 copies made for purchase on opening day was a good move to make the people come for more. Should Sword Art Online be a success, people were going to be wanting more games like it.

And so Tobei was hard at work on what he hoped would be a successor to SAO.

Tobei was well aware of the meaning behind his name. Not the literal meaning of the kanji that made it up, but a cultural meaning. He had been named after a character in the still famous Kamen Rider franchise. The man who supplied the Showa-era Riders with their personal machines. Some people joked about it with him, but he didn't really begrudge anyone. In college he learned about the Kamen Rider franchise and got hooked on it. That experience eventually gave him his idea for what he hoped would be his first great success: Kamen Rider Online.

The premise of the game would be that the players would take on the role of Kamen Riders, usually finding transformation belts of their own which were of various quality and quantity and fight off monsters in quests or random events. Depending on the style of belt and the type of monster they fought, they would engage in a storyline and head for a final confrontation with a Great Leader character. There were sixteen storylines to follow with more planned for expansions, but Tobei had only managed to hash out details of the first thus far.

Still, progress on the game was slow. Tobei was working by himself and only had a few hours between when most witnesses would be gone and when he just couldn't bring himself to work anymore due to exhaustion. He was deathly afraid that someone would try to steal his work if they learned about it, considering what a cash cow VRMMORPG games were going to become. Everyone would want to jump in on the gravy train by any means possible. Thus why Tobei worked deep into the night on his personal project.

So for help and some ideas for what he could do to improve his game, Tobei did something considered perhaps a little morally questionable but far from legally apprehensive. He began looking into the mechanics, art, and everything that made up Sword Art Online. As one of the top programmers under Akihiko, he had quite a lot of clearance for everything about the game. It was Tobei's hope that by learning some of the mechanics, he could apply them to KRO and perhaps make his game that much better. Since the FullDive and SAO belonged to Argus rather than Akihiko, Tobei was perfectly allowed to use elements of both to apply to his own project so long as Argus was the owner.

"Hm, the use of Sword Skills is too unique to SAO. I'd feel like a copycat if I used the exact same system," Tobei frowned as he read through the data pertaining to some of the battle mechanics of SAO. "It might be a good idea to introduce some kind of help system to Hissatsus though. A Hissatsu System then?" He paused to write the idea down on a pad of paper before clicking open another file. It was marked as 'Special Mechanics' and required a password to enter, one that Tobei didn't have.

"What do we have here?" he wondered, officially intrigued. Opening the password enter window, he tried a few paltry passwords which were typical of most programmers. Each one was shot down, leading Tobei to believe that Akihiko must have put a personal password on the file since it was exactly that special. Courtesy and obedience would demand that Tobei leave the file alone and if he really wanted to know he could ask Akihiko in the morning about what it was about. Of course, as docile as he could be Tobei had a wild streak in him and seeing a possible wealth of juicy information, he wanted in to see it.

Tobei had known Akihiko for a while and knew that the man was rather disillusioned about life in general. It just seemed like he didn't have much interest in it. He was calm and patient with everybody, but he never seemed to really invest himself in anything. The only times Tobei ever really had seen Akihiko excited about anything were when Aincrad in SAO was finally developed, when the Beta Test began, and he was growing more excited as the release date for SAO came closer. It was like watching someone realizing a dream come true with how he would grin so much.

"Maybe…" Tobei frowned before he began to type in another password attempt.

A-I-N-C-R-A-D

"Here goes," he muttered, entering the password.

_Password Accepted_

"Alright!" Tobei grinned. Opening the file, he began to sift around what special goodies Akihiko may have put together and what could be used to enhance KRO. Many of the files were boss character designs as well as data on attack patterns, what weapons they used, any special abilities they had, etc. Tobei wasn't interested in that. He could create his own monsters and characters himself.

Closing those tracks of data, Tobei opened more of them. He found mentions of unique skills that would be awarded to special players who displayed powerful abilities. Such skills were things named as Dual Sword or Holy Sword which would make whoever had those skills downright powerful contenders for the top ranking. Again, Tobei had no interest in such things. They were Akihiko's unique ideas and he didn't want to steal them. Be inspired by them yes, but not outright steal them.

Scrolling down for more data, he saw one that gave him pause, "Death Game? Some kind of alternate game mode?"

Again intrigued, Tobei opened the ominously named file and began to read through the contents. At first it seemed like an extreme version of Sword Art Online where if a player's HP reached zero their character would be removed from the system, forcing the player to start over as if their character really had died. However, Tobei's jaw dropped in horror when he read further into the file. He saw depictions of the NerveGear and command codes which would release bursts of microwaves that would fry a person's brain. The same command code would shut down all safety measures to prevent that exact disaster from happening. Even more mortifying was that the death command would activate when a player's HP reached zero, when connections to a power source were cut for a set length of time, or links keeping the device secured to the user were cut.

"No….no, no. You wouldn't do this Akihiko. Please tell me this is just a safety concern," Tobei muttered in horror. "This is just a concern over how easy it can be programmed to do that."

Minimizing the file, he opened up his links into Argus' servers where the game SAO would be run in conjunction with the home computers and NerveGear of the players. Bringing up the core data, as much of it as he was permitted to see with his clearance, Tobei began reading through the streams of data, looking for the commands which were part of the Death Game protocols which he had found. Moving to the sections about Nerve Gear and how they were connected to the servers. Tobei's horror grew when he saw that very same stream of code appear which was in the macabre file. Akihiko hadn't dreamed up the possibility that such a thing could happen if the NerveGear was hacked or sabotaged, but he had written a program into the equipment that would actually kill someone when their avatar in SAO died. Worse yet, the commands were written into the core of SAO's programming which meant that the protocols would activate the moment the game went online. Even more horrifying was some connecting code Tobei found which would remove the logout function from the menu.

"That sick…" Tobei gaped. He was going to trap all 10,000 players in SAO and let them die if they screwed up and got killed by the monsters inside of it. While a lot of players would be experienced gamers and 1000 of them were Beta testers experienced with the game, a huge portion of those players would be inexperienced or new to FullDive. Plenty of them were going to be children too!

KRO vanished from Tobei's mind, sleep vanished from his mind, even horror vanished from his mind. All he could think about was how 10, 000 people were walking into a veritable death trap and he had helped make it. His previous confusion of why Akihiko would only allow programmers to work on specific pieces of SAO and not the whole thing suddenly made sense. If programmers were able to get the big picture, they would have been able to see what he was planning to do and stop him. Now on the eve of SAO's release it seemed like Akihiko's plan was on the verge of completion.

Tobei knew that he had to stop Akihiko somehow. He couldn't go into Argus' servers and just smash them. SAO had backups all over the country and likely all of them had Death Game protocols. He also couldn't call up Argus' head and warn him. The first thing was that no one would believe him and with the amount of money SAO was already making them a lot of executives would go into extra denial until it was too late. By the time they'd believe him people would have already died and then it would be too late. The only real method of stopping Akihiko's sick plot would be to hack into SAO and try to delete the Death Game protocols or destroy Aincrad entirely and have nothing for the players to login to when the game officially opened.

So Tobei began exercising every ounce of clearance he had to get as deep as he possibly could into SAO's guts. He could touch fractions of the Death Game code, but not enough of it to really shut down the program. SAO's AI would just remember what was deleted and replace it. Unless an entire program was deleted, the computer would just replace it. When legal programming ended, Tobei shifted into hacker mode, bringing out every trick he knew to circumvent Akihiko's protections and get into the core of SAO and destroy the abomination before any innocent people could get killed.

Hours passed and soon it was five am of November 6th, the official launch day of SAO and eight hours before the game was open to the public to play. Every hacking trick Tobei used barely worked or was blocked entirely. Akihiko truly was a genius when it came to computers and it certainly showed in his homemade protections. None of the other Argus systems had such tight security. Tobei was no closer to stopping SAO's activation than he was when he got to work the previous morning.

"I can't let this happen, I can't!" Tobei groaned to himself, rubbing his tired eyes. Even with all his clearance and hacking tricks, he couldn't do anything to remove a thing from SAO's programming. The only thing he could actually do was _add_ things but that wouldn't help-!

Tobei blinked. He could _add_ things to Aincrad and SAO. He could put things into the game that could help the players! He'd designed plenty of the weapon drop systems and how the odds of rarer items worked. Hell, off the clock and behind Akihiko's back he'd done plenty of work on the environment when the guys in that department were short-handed!

"But what to add?" Tobei wondered to himself. "It's not as if I have some kind of super item ready to save lives and-!" And then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He did have a super item. In fact he had an entire set of them. He still had eight hours before SAO was officially launched. If he did it right, he could adapt several of _those_ from his KRO programs into SAO.

There was no other way. He'd have to stuff in a lot and do it before Akihiko came in to do his final checks, but if he pulled it off then a bunch of players were going to have items that could mean the difference between life and death!

"Here goes nothing," Tobei frowned, pulling up the data from his project. "Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, Zangetsu, Gridon. You'll be the first ones. I just hope some players who actually want to help everyone escape find you guys!"

* * *

**Aincrad 1st Floor - Meadow Path November 6th 6:00 PM**

It was supposed to be fun.

It was supposed to be a game.

It was supposed to be exciting.

Now it wasn't anymore.

Running along the path through the fields of Aincrad's very first floor was a young man. He appeared to be around fourteen years old with black hair wearing the very basic tunic, pants, beginning armor of all the new characters as well as wielding a basic sword. He had a very intense look on his face for one so young. However, it was a very intense situation that he had ended up finding himself in. A situation that one at his age shouldn't have found himself in but somehow it happened just the same.

His online name was Kirito. He was an avid gamer who had short black hair, pale skin from being inside more often than not, dark eyes, and looked slightly effeminate. He had just been one of 10, 000 people who were clamouring for the newest game craze Sword Art Online. In fact, he had been craving it more than most since he had managed to be one of the Beta Testers who were allowed a sneak peek into the game before anyone else could. He felt like it took forever for the new game to be finished and become available, but once it was he was all over it like white on rice.

Kirito had excelled in Sword Art Online and there he felt more alive than he did in the real world. Instead of a world where you were constantly judged and could only get ahead by who you knew, all he needed to prove his worth was a sword and his own guts. Being able to spend a good amount of time in the world of Aincrad and following his fantasies in it, he felt like he didn't want to leave.

Now though...he didn't have a choice but to stay.

Not a half hour ago, the gamemaster of Sword Art Online Kayaba Akihiko appeared in the form of a giant robed figure. He announced that players had likely noticed that the logout button had been removed from the main menu. It wasn't a flaw or a bug that got overlooked, but a feature of Sword Art Online. None of the players were allowed to logout of the game.

Akihiko then made his most chilling announcement, he had removed the revival feature of the game so when a player's avatar died it would be removed from the game. That aside, when a player did die, they were disconnected from the system for over two hours, or were disconnected from a power source longer than ten minutes then the NerveGear would activate its microwave emitters at full blast and fry the wearer's brain. Sword Art Online had literally become a live-or-die kind of game with real lives held in the balance. Already two hundred and thirteen people had died when people outside of the game tried to remove their NerveGear, triggering the death protocols. Akihiko even showed the newscasts of the incidents to prove they were happening.

Kirito hadn't needed the newscasts for proof. As a computer junkie, he had studied the NerveGear up and down since he got it because he wanted to know how it worked. With the battery in the device there would be more than enough power and if the safety protocols in the device were removed then it would be more than possible for a quick blast of microwave to occur and kill whoever was wearing the NerveGear. Kirito's own vivid imagination already painted an image of what such a person would look like after the process got through with them. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty.

In the middle of the mounting horror of the 10,000 players, Akihiko did offer one shred of hope. Should the players, even if it was only one, managed to get through all one hundred floors on Aincrad and defeat the Final Boss then Akihiko promised to log everyone out so they could go back to their lives. It may have been seen as a message of hope, but each floor had a dungeon filled with traps and puzzles with a Dungeon Boss who would be stronger than anything else the players had seen previously. Usually players had to work together on Boss Battles, making raid groups of up to forty players and usually plenty of the died in the attempt during the Beta Test. With the Death Game rules in effect, no one would be willing to try and fight them.

Then perhaps the final insult, or final nail in the coffin, was an item Akihiko spread to all of the players. It was called a Mirror and that was exactly what it was. Everyone looked at it in confusion, but were then engulfed in light. When it died down, everyone's avatars had been transformed into what they looked like in the real world. It caused some chaos and disgust since plenty of handsome men turned out to be repulsive and cute girls ended up really being ugly or older guys. After that, Akihiko wished them luck and left, letting all hell break loose as all of the players began to panic and try to do something about their situation.

Rather than panic or despair like so many others were doing, Kirito began to run for the next village far away from the Starter City where all the players first appeared. He knew that when people got their heads back, there were going to be a lot of them who were going to try and grow stronger so they could take on the Dungeon and win, reaching the second floor. The problem was that they weren't going to stray very far from the city unless they were good and ready and only so many resources and mobs to grind for experience were available in the area surrounding the city. With all 10,000...9787 players in one place, everything was going to become rather scarce and hard to get. Kirito hated doing it this way, leaving his friend Klein and his group of beginners behind, but if too many people followed him then the resource problem would just become a worse problem since Horunka Village was so much smaller. So Kirito went on his own, aiming to use the slightly more advanced Horunka area to level up even faster and grab some of the quests around get himself ready to advance that much sooner.

He wasn't going to die!

He wasn't going to fail!

He would survive!

* * *

**Real World- Tobei Tachibana's Apartment November 6th 11:00 PM**

Tobei groaned as he sat in a chair in his apartment. The last six hours had been gruelling. He had been working as much as possible to give the players of Sword Art Online any sort of advantage in the Death Game which would help them advance and protect themselves. He had just hoped that it would be enough to save lives. Still, he couldn't help but feel disgust and despair at himself when he had been told by police that 213 people had already died when family members tried to remove them from SAO by removing the NerveGear, triggering the death protocols. Akihiko had been a crafty bastard, writing in such a foolproof program.

When it became obvious that the players were trapped in SAO, ambulances raced all over the city to collect the people who were trapped so their bodies could be placed in hospitals to make sure that nothing would happen to them and that they wouldn't just wither and die in their homes with no one to take care of them. Apparently Akihiko had sent out notices to all of the media outlets and police institutes so that none of the players would die from outside influences unless their NerveGear was removed.

Tobei had learned all this when the police dragged him in for questioning. They grilled him for hours, demanding to know if he had any idea as to what was happening with the game and if he knew about it beforehand. Tobei had to be honest, having learned about it only the previous night and had tried to do something about it but Akihiko's computer skills were just so much greater. When pressed as to why he didn't try to warn everyone, he had to answer 'who would believe him?' The police wouldn't have taken him seriously since SAO was 'just a game' and who would put something like the death protocols in a game? The public would think he was crazy and paranoid. A modern day technophobe. He wouldn't have been able to warn all 10,000 players in time either and his bosses wouldn't hear anything bad about their new cash cow and would just try to shut him up. So who was he expected to go to?

He did reveal what he did to modify Sword Art Online in hopes of helping the players. Only the most driven players would be able to really find and use his modifications. The players who wanted to progress and help the other players escape the game would be best suited to them. His special items would perhaps allow the other players to act a little smarter and keep them out of danger unless they did something stupid. He didn't have time to rewrite anything about his items so the players would have to be smart or else they were going to end up causing more problems for themselves than before.

He just hoped that the right sort of players would find the Drivers or else more people would die and it would be directly his fault.

* * *

**Aincrad - Forest of Beginnings November 13th 11:45 AM**

It had been a week since the death game known as Sword Art Online had begun. It had been a rough week filled with a lot of emotional turmoil and despair. It became increasingly more obvious that no one was coming to rescue them. For many players, it was the wakeup call they needed to realize that they were on their own. If they wanted out of the game then they were going to have to do it themselves. Many formed groups and were out milling the mob areas for experience, money, and items. Of course, many of them stuck to the easier mob areas since no one was willing to risk their lives for the game just yet.

Everyone fought with one goal in mind: freedom. As it was a game it had an objective: clear all 100 floors by beating the Bosses. On each floor there was a Boss and by beating the Boss access to the next floor would be opened. That was the only way for them to be free.

Unfortunately, many had fallen into despair unable to come to grips with what was happening and believed that they were never going to escape. Others decided to jump off the edge thinking it was all a lie and that by killing themselves that they would be free and wake up in reality. No one was sure if they succeeded or not, but all anyone knew was that they weren't part of SAO anymore. It was unfortunately a trend for a short time where many people ended up killing themselves either in despair or believing a delusion that there was no way the NerveGear could do what Akihiko promised it would.

The Beta Testers decided to fend for themselves and quickly set off, leaving the beginners behind. If beating the game was the only way out then they needed to get stronger. It was the only way. Unfortunately, this gave the Beta Testers a stigma on top of the one they already had. Many people wondered that if the Beta Testers had played the game before shouldn't they have known something like the Death Game would happen. Many felt the Beta Testers should have tried to warn people about the game if they knew about the life or death struggle. Of course, there was no way for the Beta Testers to know what Akihiko had planned but fear and anger tended to make people think irrationally. Other players felt that the Beta Testers should have stayed to help the new players out instead of trying to go off on their own and hoard experience and quest items. They accused the Beta Testers of leaving them to rot while they did everything they could to help themselves. It wasn't entirely true, but the other players wanted a scapegoat since they couldn't get to Kayaba Akihiko who admitted he was behind everything.

Kirito's himself was steadily getting stronger, level grinding as he gained more and more EXP. As a Beta Tester he knew of many places where he could quickly gain experience and did it gradually. Going into the more dangerous areas was unwise so he played carefully, never going after Mobs which were too numerous or too much higher above his own level. Sure they had stronger Mobs which would earn him more EXP but with SAO becoming a life or death struggle, he was not about to gamble with his life. There was no reset button or respawn if he got killed in game.

With another Mob taken down, Kirito's gained enough EXP to grow another level. Out of habit he wiped the sweat off his brow. He knew it was just virtual sweat but Kayaba had made the game super realistic so that every sensation felt real. That also included fatigue, pain and hunger. Fortunately, plenty of food and places to sleep were readily available and all the towns were considered Safe Zones where the monsters couldn't go so people could at least rest easy there.

On occasion, Kirito's wondered how Klein was doing. The man had been the first friend he made in SAO and Kirito still felt bad about leaving him behind. Klein was an avid gamer and he had a bunch of friends with him so Kirito was confident he was okay, but it didn't stop him from worrying about the man now and then. Sword Art Online didn't have any retries if someone ended up dead after all.

With the last of the Mob destroyed, Kirito checked his stats. He had just levelled up again and several of his other skills had progressed as well. If he kept up the pace he would be able to get some of the more specialized weapon skills. He'd also gained some miscellaneous items which he could sell back in town if he wanted to. Checking on his sword durability, he saw that the durability score was low, meaning that the weapon was about ready to break so he would have to either repair it or a buy a new one in town. Kirito frowned at the oversight he made on the weapon. He'd been so intent on getting that last short burst to his next level he forgot to check on his weapon's durability. He usually had more sense than that. His survival hinged on him having a proper weapon.

Hearing a howl, meaning the Forest Wolf Mob was going to regenerate soon, Kirito turned away and headed back for the path towards the town he was currently staying it. It was nameless town, one of the small places players could rest and restock in on their way to one of the larger places. He'd picked the area since the Forest of Beginnings had stronger Mobs than around the Starting City but still would be easily defeatable if one knew what they were doing. The lake area had aquatic monsters and the shift in terrain wasn't something he wanted to deal with until he was at a higher level and the mountain region closer to the dungeon had Lizardmen who could use Sword Skills on the players. Again, he wanted to get his level higher and advance his skills before going against such opponents.

He was less likely to be attacked on the main pathways, but chances for random encounters happened now and then so Kirito had his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He did know some of the shortcuts through the forest which he usually took when he had to move fast to avoid being caught in the wild at night where the monsters would become stronger and more aggressive. More experience to be had in fighting them, but a lot riskier to life and limb at his current level and Kirito wasn't foolish enough to try. He'd gotten killed enough times during the Beta Test trying that.

When he was cutting through a particularly thick portion of the forest, one which was too thick for Mobs to function in ironically, that was when he saw an open zipper. It was such an odd and random thing, an open zipper in the air, that Kirito couldn't help but stop and stare at it. It was right in the middle of the clearing and on the other side he could see a forest on the other side, but it was completely different from the Forest of Beginnings. While he expected to see odd things in SAO's environment, he knew something like this had not been originally programmed into the game since its beta testing stage. Then again, Kayaba had made numerous modifications so this could be one of them. His cautious side told him to ignore it. What if it were some kind of trap? What if he went in and got swarmed by Mobs? Then again, what if this was the entrance to a secret dungeon which held an ultra rare stat boosting item?

Eventually, curiosity won over caution. Holding his sword, Kirito approached the open zipper and stepped through into the new forest. It didn't look incredibly intimidating. Everything was covered in a light mist, but the trees looked a little strange. Most of them were an oddly straight tree wrapped in green vines with large purple flowers growing off of them.

"This definitely was not in the Beta Test," Kirito frowned to himself.

Approaching one of the weird trees, he tapped one of the flowers which opened up a window, meaning he could interact with the flowers.

_Lockseed Fruit_

_A mysterious fruit which grows in the Helheim Forest, home of the Inves. Inves love these items as their preferred source of food._

_Take? Y/N_

"Lockseed? Inves? Helheim?" Kirito frowned. Now he knew that he had never seen or heard of such things in the Beta Test. Modifying existing enemies, areas, and objects he could of course understand, but adding something entirely new? Unless the Beta Testers thought there wasn't enough going on in the first floor there was no reason for such an addition. Kirito knew that wasn't the case though. Nearly all of the Beta Testers agreed that with the floor being so huge, there was plenty to do and have fun with before even considering taking on the Dungeon and the Boss there.

Still, with such a strange item and in abundance, Kirito figured he had something good on his hands or at least he could harvest a bunch of the Lockseed Fruits and sell them. That or eat them if whatever the Inves were considered them to be food. Tapping the 'Y' the Lockseed Fruit vanished from sight and reappeared in Kirito's inventory. He took another two before he decided he could come back for more later.

"Let's see what makes this thing so unique," Kirito muttered. Scrolling through his inventory, he materialized the Flower and held it in his hand. It looked like a round light purple fruit covered in deep purple leaves. The closest thing Kirito could say it reminded him of was a peach. The funny thing was that the other end where the stem would usually be was some kind of semi-circle which reminded Kirito of a padlock.

"I guess that's where the lock part of its name comes from," he shrugged, bringing up an info window about the item.

He read through what information was available about the fruit and he wasn't sure what to make of it. The fruit emitted a scent which attracted Inves, logical since it was supposedly their favourite food. It seemed more like a bait item for monsters rather than any sort of food item he could eat, but that could come in handy if he wanted to grind somewhere and wanted to do it fast instead of going out and hunting for it. A note at the bottom of the window indicated that once touched by something outside of Helheim Forests, the flowers would begin to mature and quickly, making their bait potential limited.

"What? Mature how?" Kirito frowned. Turning from the window, he looked to the fruit in his hand in confusion. As if to answer his question, the flower began to shine with white light, causing the leaves to begin falling off and the fruit itself beginning to harden. When the light died down, Kirito gaped at in his hand was what looked like a silver padlock with an orange decorating the front marked with the letters 'LS-07' in black on the front.

"Huh?!" Kirito openly gaped at the item. An alert came from his inventory, indicating that something had changed. Looking to the menu in question, he discovered that his two Lockseed Fruits had transformed into Ichigo Lockseed and Pine Lockseed. The one in his hand was called an Orange Lockseed.

_Mature Lockseed_

_An item which when used with a SengokuDriver can activate Arms which can be used in a number of combat situations. They can also be used to summon Inves outside of Helheim Forest and are controllable so long as the owner keeps a hold on the Lockseed. Be warned, should an Inves eat a Mature Lockseed, their power will grow exponentially and turn into a Berserk Inves._

"Eh? What the heck is a SengokuDriver?" Kirito asked in very real confusion. Was that some kind of rare treasure item? Also, what were Inves? The Lockseeds could summon Inves outside of Helheim? He'd never heard of such a function before.

Hearing rustling, Kirito swiftly took cover behind a tree. Sticking his head out from behind his hiding spot, he spied on strange creatures which he assumed were Inves. There were three of them, all of them hunchbacked monsters with gray skin and flat mask-like faces. Each of them were subtly different though Portions of their chests and legs were coloured either red, blue, or green. Their faces were also slightly different. The red one had sad-looking slit-like eyes. The blue one's eyes were simple circles, and the green one had more ornate slits with a circular line on its forehead. The one thing they all had in common was large claws which looked pretty lethal. Kirito could see indicators above the three monsters, giving them their names: _Elementary Inves: Red, Elementary Inves: Blue,_ and _Elementary Inves: Green_.

The were at a tree and picking the flowers to eat. They seemed to ignore everything else save for the Lockseed Fruits that they were devouring. Kirito saw their health bars and saw that the three monsters were about average for the area. While he might stand a chance against regular Mobs, the Invase were new and he didn't know what they were capable of. The three different varieties of the Inves Warriors made Kirito fear if they had different skill sets. He decided that it was best for him to be on his way without drawing their attention.

Unbeknownst to him, he had already gotten some unwanted attention. A predator was on the prowl, looking for prey.

Kirito eyed the Elementary Inves for a moment longer before he tried to use what stealth skill he accumulated during the week to try and get out of Helheim and back to town where he could talk to someone who might know what the Lockseeds were. Slowly backing away, but keeping the three Inves in sight lest they notice him, he moved to get away. He was suddenly stopped when he hit something behind him. Thinking into was merely a tree or something, Kirito turned to see what he had touched, but something then smashed into his face.

Grunting, Kirito hit the ground with his vision in a blur, his health bar being the only thing which he could solidly see and a portion of it vanished from the blow. Shaking his head, Kirito looked up to see what hit him, expecting another Inves Warrior that he had missed. Instead, he got something else…

The creature stood like a man, but that was the only resemblance it had. It was covered from head to toe in red armor. It wore thick shoulder plating which made it look bigger. Its hands sported long silver metal claws that looked like they were as sharp as ginsu knives. The legs had some silver armor with claws feline feet, lithe and ready to pounce on some unsuspecting prey. The face resembled a snarling feline's with an orange mane of hair As Kirito's vision cleared, the indicator above the monster appeared, naming it _Lion Inves_

"Oh no," Kirito grunted, scrambling away from the monster. His hand touched something metal and he looked down, noticing the Orange Lockseed he dropped when the Inves struck him. Grabbing it, he pulled himself to his feet and drew his sword while pocketing the Lockseed. He didn't want anything to eat it while he was trying to defend himself. If what the item description said was true, that would make a bad situation worse.

Hissing from behind forced Kirito to look over his shoulder and spied the three Elementary Inves advancing towards him, obviously attracted by the noise of the Lion Inves. He cursed inwardly, pondering his options. His sword was low on durability and he had four monsters to fight. He was wary of the Inves Warriors already but the obviously stronger Inves knew he had to run for it.

The Lion Inves growled, but didn't attack again. Instead it hissed and growled while waving its arms. the Elementary Inves seemed to take it as an order and sped up their advance towards Kirito with their claws raised. More than a threat, Kirito took that as a comfort. Apparently the Elementary Warrior were more common that the beastial types and thus took orders from the superior ones. Kirito was sure he could take on the thugs and win and with only one Inves to fight he could run and escape Helheim Forest without having to fight the Lion Inves.

"Here goes!" Kirito hissed, positioning himself properly. Immediately his sword began to glow, an indicator that the system was assisting him in completing the attack. Once the attack was ready, he charged at the three approaching Elementary Inves and unleashed his Horizontal Sword Skill. He purposefully kept it wide, making it able to strike all three of the monsters. The strike landed perfectly, cutting a glowing red pixelated line across the bodies of all three of the Inves Warriors. The strike pushed all three of them back with screeches and their health bars popping up. As expected, they began to shrink but Kirito saw that he only did a fraction of the damage that he was expecting to with his weapon.

"What the-?" Kirito wandered. Did the Inves have some kind of resistance to Sword Skills since they were part of some out of place area?

He didn't have time to truly consider the idea since the three Elementary Inves pulled themselves up to their feet and charged for him once again. Kirito took the fight to the three, slashing and dodging their swipes and slicing into their gray hides with his sword. He left several red pixel gashes across their hides, but each blow he struck only did a fraction of the damage that he was expecting it to. It led Kirito to believe that indeed the physics in Helheim Forest were different than the rest of Aincrad when it came to Sword Skills and weapons.

"Hyah! Ho! Ha!" Kirito bellowed, slashing several more times into the Inves Warriors. Again and again only a fraction of the damage was dealt which meant Kirito was getting tired out faster and the durability of his sword was draining even further. If he wanted to end the fight soon he had to find the weakpoint for the monsters or else his weapon was going to-!

*SMASH*

Kirito's latest attack landed on a blocking claw from Green Elementary Inves and it promptly exploded into blue pixels, vanishing into nothing. Kirito's sword had run out of durability and as part of the rules ended up being destroyed. Now though, he was weaponless and fighting against three monsters at once.

Was this the shadow of death he felt?

The Green Elementary Warrior lashed out and struck several red gashes across his torso. Kirito screamed, even with the pin being dulled he still felt pain as he fell back. He grunted as he tried to pull himself up. While doing so, a notice came from his menu.

_Because of the Inves striking you, you have dropped your Ichigo Lockseed! Recover it quickly!_

"Crap!" Kirito hissed. So the Green Elementary Inves could force inventory drops when they hit or did they all have that ability? Either way, he was on the verge of more trouble. He scrambled along the grass, trying to spot the Lockseed in the tall grass. He didn't see what he was looking for, but the screech of the Inves Warrior told him something happened. Looking up, he saw the three had lunged for something on the ground and the Blue Elementary Inves stood up holding the Ichigo Lockseed. To Kirito's morbid curiosity, a toothy mouth opened in a vertical line on the monsters face which promptly sucked in the Lockseed and gulped it down like a sweet treat.

The monster screeched and flames danced across it's form before it's top opened up, revealing a maw filled with dozens of razor sharp teeth. Even its mask-like face peeled away to become jaw-like mandibles and a face that looked like it was made of muscle fiber. The indicator above its head changed, renaming it a Berserk Elementary Inves. The remaining Elementary Inves whimpered and ducked behind their mutated fellow.

"So that's what happens," Kirito idly commented to himself. Still, he knew he was in deeper trouble than before. Scrambling to his feet, he eyed the better part of survival and took off running through the Helheim Forest, searching for something which he could use to escape back to the Forest of Beginnings or perhaps some kind of item drop that was unique to Helheim Forest which could hurt the Inves like the other monsters would be.

"I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die!" he chanted to himself, dodging more of the Lockseed Trees. "DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!"

Skidding pst a thicker tree, Kirito looked back and saw that the three Inves were still chasing him. Looking around, he plucked several Lockseed Fruitss from the tree and threw them at the Elementary Inves. As he hoped, the monsters promptly forgot about him and began fighting over the plucked fruits, trying to be the first to gulp them down. It gave Kirito the needed breathing room he needed and gave him a strategy against the Inves that he could use since he was without a weapon.

Taking off running again, Kirito tried to find some kind of landmark or unique area he could use as cover or some kind of event which would give him some kind of weapon to use against the Inves or get him the hell out! The only thing he could see though were more and more Lockseed Trees with some odd flowers sticking out of the ground. Frustrated, tired, and understandably fearing for his life, Kirito looked into the oddly shaded blue sky and screamed, "WHERE THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO GO?!"

"You have already arrived."

Kirito flinched and turned to see who had spoken. To his shock a girl was practically right behind him. She wore a white tunic which exposed her shoulders and white pants with dark leather boots. Her hair was blonde but not unnaturally so for an asian girl and she had heterochromatic eyes, one brown and one red. She looked unnaturally stern, but the lack of indicator above her head marked her as an NPC rather than a living person.

"You have come seeking power. You have found it," the Mysterious Girl spoke. "Helheim Forest does not open for the faint of heart or the weak. Your strength has brought you here from your world and now we will grant you our strength to send you back."

"And how do I do that?" asked Kirito. If this was a quest of some kind, there had better be some kind of payoff.

"Use this," the Mysterious Girl replied, holding out what looked like a belt buckle with a hexagonal indent in the centre with a sword-shaped lever on the side. The top of the buckle had a slip of metal with a hole in it for some reason. On the left side was the armoured face of some figure with a sword-like decoration on his forehead, a blue helmet, a rainbow-colored visor, and a steel mouthplate. Kirito didn't need to be told twice as he took the item which immediately opened up an information window.

_You have received a SengokuDriver!_

_This is a rare item from the forests of Helheim which grants the wearer the use of Arms and armor powered by the Lockseeds! use it wisely for it will be your greatest weapon against the forces of the Inves and other evils!_

"This is the SengokuDriver?" Kirito asked, remembering the name from when he got the Mature Lockseeds. "It looks like some kind of belt buckle." An idea popped in his head and he put it on his midsection. Instantly, a yellow belt strap materialized, securing the SengokuDriver to his waist.

"When you wear your Driver, opening a Lockseed will summon your Arms instead of an Inves," the Mysterious Girl replied. "Mount your Lockseeds in the centre and call on their power."

Kirito nodded and dug into his pocket, pulling out the Orange Lockseed he looked over the object and found a black button on it. Hitting the button, the latch of the lock opened, prompting the orange on the front to begin flashing with orange light.

"**ORANGE!**"

Kirito blinked and moved to insert the Lockseed into place, but stopped when hissing echoed through the air. He turned and groaned when he saw the three Elementary Inves approaching him, the Berserk Elementary Inves leading the way. The sight caused Kirito to groan, but he remained strong. He pressed the Orange Lockseed into the indent on his belt and locked it into place, literally since he snapped the lock closed.

"**LOCK ON!**"

The belt began to make a horn-like noise, the kind warlords would have sound before major battles in the Sengoku Era. Unsure of what to do next, Kirito grasped the sword-like handle and pushed it down onto the Orange Lockseed. The Front of the orange then popped open like an orange being sliced open. The portion stuck to the lock looked like the inside of an orange chopped in half while the bottom half hanging on the belt depicted a sword that seemed like a scimitar styled after an orange slice.

"**SOIYA!** **ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**"

Above Kirito, a branch from a tree seemed to shine with orange light before a large orange grew from the limb. Rather than the citrus pulpy fruit, it was a metal sphere painted oranged with metal studs on the surface. The orange dropped from the tree and landed on Kirito's shoulders, engulfing his head. His body rippled and became covered in a dark blue bodysuit which had quilted leather, perfect for fighting. On his arms and legs were golden bracers and leg coverings which added extra protection. On his side was a black sword with a gold line on the blade with a trigger under the swordguard and the cross-like guard looked like it actually doubled as a gun. Inside the metal orange, Kirito's head became covered in a blue helmet with a silver mouthguard, a dark gray visor, and a sword-like decoration on the forehead. After the helmet formed, another change occurred. Samurai-like helmet landed as extra decoration made of the studded orange steel and the visor turned orange, looking like an orange slice. The orange then sparked and began to disassemble, the sides folding in half to form the shoulder pads, the chest plate with a black line on top, and leaning on his back was the top of the orange with the silver inside facing out. Appearing in his hand was a short scimitar which was orange and styled after an orange slice.

"Woah…" the armoured player gasped, looking himself over.

_You have received Musou Saber!_

_You have received Daidaimaru!_

_You have received the Kamen Rider Gaim armor!_

_You have received Orange Arms armor!_

The information window gave a quick description of what the weapons and armor did. Kirito only glanced at the functions of the weapons. They could combine into a naginata-like weapon which was handy, but what captured Kirito's attention was the boost to his stats that the armor gave and what it allowed him to do.

"Dual wielding?!" he gaped. "I can wield two weapons at once! And these scores!" If he was reading the stat bonuses right, he was equal to higher level players who were on the second level or even the third! This was too much for some super-rare item! He was looking at some kind of...cheat!

"Fight the enemy! Protect the people! Attack, Kamen Rider Gaim!" the Mysterious Girl called out.

"Kamen Rider?" Kirito...Gaim looked at his help character.

The three Elementary Inves hissed and began their rapid charge at the two. Gaim grunted and positioned himself with both weapons in hand. Once the first one came close enough, he slashed wide with the Musou Saber which dug into the Red Elementary Inves, cutting another red line through its torso. A sizable portion of its HP went straight down, much more than before. Seeing the effectiveness was where he expected it to be, Gaim pressed his advantage and slashed several more time, sending a haze of red pixels through the air with several more gouges in it.

"Let's try this!" Gaim grunted, positioning himself properly, allowing both weapons to begin to glow, going for a double Vertical strike. With the attacks prepared, Gaim lashed out and struck the Red Elementary Inves perfectly with both strikes. The monster screamed and feel back with two red lines passing over it before it exploded into pixels, making it look like a blue fireball.

The Green Elementary Inves passed through the remains of its comrade and charged for Gaim. The Kamen Rider grabbed the guard of his sword and pulled back on a portion of the weapon, causing five lights in the gold line of the sword blade. Taking aim, he squeezed the trigger portion and shot five shots in succession, making five red holes appear in the monsters. It screeched and stumbled back, giving Gaim the breathing room he needed. Deciding to use it, he twisted both weapons together before attaching their handles together, making the Daidaimaru Naginata Mode. Twisting the weapon, he lunged at the Green Elementary Inves with a twisting slash

"HYAH!" Gaim bellowed out, making two quick cuts in succession. The armor seemed to have some kind of assist function in it since Gaim knew he didn't have any spear skills. Still, it came in handy as he cut the Elementary Inves once across the midsection and once across the face. The monster shrieked like the one before and promptly exploded into another blaze of blue pixels.

Gaim tried to catch his breath for a moment, but was promptly body slammed by the Berserk Elementary Inves and smashed against a Lockseed Tree. Grunting, Gaim struggled against the mutated monster's grip as its oversized jaws began to lean in closer to take a deep bite out of him. Although he lost some HP, Gaim had to marvel at how little he lost from such a heavy attack. Saving the thought for later, her kneed the Inves in the side, making it grunt and lose some strength in its grip. Seeing his chance, Gaim slashed and managed to catch the Inves in its skinless face which caused it to screech and stumble away.

Gaim panted, letting his breath return from the surprise attack. He needed to end the fight since it would just attract that Lion Inves and he didn't have enough experience with his weapons to be sure if he could pull out of a fight without bringing himself down into the red zone in terms of his HP.

"Your Musou Saber can activate a Hissatsu in its current mode!" the Mysterious Girl spoke, somehow sitting in a tree. "Your Lockseed shall release the power!"

"Right!" Gaim nodded. Looking to the Saber half of his weapon, he saw an indentation just like the kind on his Driver. Reaching to his belt, he unlocked his Orange Lockseed and removed it from the Driver.

"**LOCK OFF!**"

Bringing it up to his weapon, he placed the Lockseed in the spot and quickly locked it into place.

"**LOCK ON! 1-10-100-1000-10000!**"

Gaim lifted his weapon and orange power filled the weapon, making it shine. When the Mutated Inves Warrior managed to recover itself, Gaim saw his opportunity and slashed twice as the suit's System Assist told him to. When he cut with the Musou Saber side, twin slashes of orange power crashed against the Inves Warrior, lifting it into the air and trapping it inside a sphere of orange energy with a green tip on top. With the enemy paralyzed, Gaim charged forward as the Daidaimaru section began to shine.

"**ORANGE CHARGE!**"

"UUUOOOHHHHHH!" Gaim charged and slashed the Inves, cutting clean through its body and slicing the energy orange clean in half, the two sides drifting apart. The two sides then flashed before exploding in orange pixels, an actual orange slice flying through the air. Once the pixels cleared, a window popped up in front of Gaim, revealing the battle results.

_Congratulations! You Win!_

_Results:_

_Col: 1500_

_EXP: 175_

_Items: None_

"Huh? That can't be right," Gaim grunted as he looked over the stats. By the Forest of Beginnings, experience received from monsters reached the triple digits. Even divided by three, the experience he got from fighting the Inves Warriors was cut down by half, even with the mutated one offering only a little bit more! The Col was fine and certainly expected from such a fight of three versus one but how was his experience cut down by so much? Was it some drawback to the armor or something? Considering how strong it made him that seemed fair though.

"Congratulations, Gaim," the Mysterious Girl spoke, somehow teleporting down from her tree and appearing at Gaim's side, making the Kamen Rider jump in fright. Undeterred, the NPC continued, "Now there is one who wishes to speak with you."

"There is?" Gaim blinked. Another quest maybe?

The girl didn't answer, but instead there was a flash of light which blinded Gaim. When his vision returned, the Mysterious Girl was gone and there was instead a man wearing a deep blue robe which hid his face with floating gloves and boots for hands and feet. Gaim's heart clenched when he saw the figure standing in front of him, "Kayaba Akihiko!"

"_If you are hearing my message, then you have found the SengokuDriver,_" the voice of the man spoke, sounding nothing like Akihiko and much more...tired. "_My name is Tobei Tachibana...and I am a programmer of Sword Art Online._"

"What?!" Gaim snapped.

"_Please do not try to attack me, although I probably deserve it. This is merely a recorded message. I am not really in the game. By now I'm probably in jail, on house arrest, or getting ready for trial,_" the man explained. "_We who helped Akihiko make this game had no idea what he was planning. He only allowed us to work on separate portions of it and never different ones. We were not able to see the big picture and thus what he was planning. He hid his Death Game Protocols too well._"

Giam frowned, but he didn't attack.

"_I learned about them the night before the release, looking for ideas and resources I could use from SAO in a project I was working on, Kamen Rider Online. Discovering the Death Game I tried every computer trick I knew but he protected the core programming too well. Knowing what I did, I could not go to anyone. The police wouldn't believe a simple online game could kill people, the public would have called me paranoid, I couldn't warn you players fast enough to save you all, and my superiors would have quieted me to keep the bad publicity out. I still had to do something. So with my clearance even though I couldn't delete anything without the system AI restoring it, I was able to add things to Aincrad instead._"

"Wait.." Gaim gasped. Did this mean-?

"_Helheim Forest, the Inves, the Lockseeds, and the SengokuDrivers are not part of Sword Art Online. They are...a hack I suppose you can call it,_" Tobei explained. "_I hid entrances to Helheim Forest in all the places where only the players who are intent on clearing the floors and getting out of the game can find them. They will be on all one hundred floors. The Lockseeds can also be used to summon Inves who can help the players with tasks in all areas, even in Dungeons. They make perfect scouts as well._"

Gaim could suddenly see the value of the tools that Tobei had placed in SAO. It had the potential to save countless lives! if the Inves could be sent into dangerous areas instead of players, it could make exploring dungeons and danger zones ever so much safer and quicker. The armor could also help reduce the numbers needed to take on boss-level monsters and reduce the risk to so many people!

"_Although, with the time constraints I had, there are some drawbacks to all of this,_" Tobei sighed. "_The accumulation of experience was different in my game and SAO. So depending on the armor to win all your battles will stunt your growth in SAO if you plan to use it to win all your battles. Next...I'm not sure how the Inves will interact with the natural environment of Sword Art Online. I tried to get their programming right to keep them in Helheim Forest, but when players begin summoning there is a chance they'll get out of control or heaven forbid...follow people out of the portals. I initially wrote them up to be tenacious opponents like that. It's possible for regular players to beat an Inves but as you no doubt discovered it would be difficult. Fortunately a Kamen Rider can defeat them much easier._"

"No kidding," Gaim muttered, rubbing his chest.

"_I'll try to get more armors, Lockseeds, and other equipment for the players to collect but I'm not sure if I'll be legally allowed near a computer for the rest of my life. If I can cut a deal with the government to keep up my Kamen Rider hack. All I ask is that you who found my equips use them to help get these players out of this death trap! Please, show the world not all of us programmers were knowingly a part of this and couldn't care less._"

With that, the avatar faded away and left Gaim alone in the middle of the forest. Looking around, he saw that his position had changed. Several feet in front of him, there was the exit from Helheim Forest. Looking around, he spied the Lockseed Fruits growing around him. Knowing what they were used for and how they could help people, Gaim reached and grabbed several more of the illegal items. They'd mature into Mature Lockseeds soon enough and he could test them out. He'd heard of a merchant back at Starter City who was building up a pretty good merchant reputation with players who needed to unload stuff and those who needed it before they'd go out of the city walls. 'Buy cheap and sell cheap' was apparently his motto. If he was an okay guy, he'd probably be able to spread out the Lockseeds and help Gaim teach people how to use them.

Stepping through the zipper-like portal, Gaim took a moment to look through his stats and even got an image of his armor, both with and without the Orange Arms.

"A samurai," he muttered. "Grandpa must be laughing to me right now. I walk away from kendo for computers and I still become a samurai like he wanted anyway."

* * *

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment - November 13th 12: 30 PM**

Tobei sighed again as he sat in front of his computer. His outline of what he did to Sword Art Online and his description of events considering his discovery of the Death Game managed to buy him some credibility in the eyes of the law according to his lawyer. Also his views on how he literally couldn't go to anyone for help managed to get him some leeway too. At least the law wasn't going to be keeping him in jail. As it was, he got placed on house arrest and couldn't go anywhere without an officer going with him. That got kind of uncomfortable so he had hired a neighborhood kid to go buy his groceries when he needed them.

News about Sword Art Online was everywhere. What should have been the greatest video game of all time was turning into a massacre the likes of which only the Nazis from WWII could match for the timeframe of a week. Hundreds of people had died already and the public was up in arms. They demanded justice for the families of those affected and with Akihiko vanishing from the face of the earth they were willing to get it from Argus and the people who helped Akihiko create his twisted game.

Argus of course were trying their best to convince people that it wasn't their fault, that they had no idea what Akihiko had been up to. Any and all inspections of Akihiko's branch of their company hadn't turned up anything unusual and investigations into the man's expenditures and monthly progress reports weren't unusual either. Although Tobei suspected that Akihiko had created two sets of SAO reports to fool his superiors, the safe version and the Death Game version he had created. Again and again Argus was saying that they had been fooled as well, that Akihiko had done everything behind their backs and no one noticed. That hardly placated the victims' families. Several of them were already filing lawsuits against Argus for allowing Akihiko to do what he did. Argus' lawyers were already using dirty moves, dismissing the deaths of the first two hundred as the families' fault since they disrupted the machine when it was publicly announced as unsafe.

'_That really scored sympathy points,_' Tobei snorted, popping an aspirin to help with his growing migraine.

Tobei was also slightly scared for his safety. One of the programmers for SAO had been shot by a distressed father whose son had died in SAO and with no other recourse tried to get revenge. Another programmer got mobbed by a bunch of people who wanted to hurt him for making such a deathtrap and apparently not even taking responsibility for it. That man had gone to the hospital with several broken bones and may end up walking with a limp for the rest of his life.

Tobei also knew he had a target on his back. He had been mentioned by name as a programmer for SAO. The only reason he hadn't asked for more police protection was because unlike the other programmers who ended up being painted as uncaring drones who helped Akihiko make his death game, Tobei was given a slightly better spin on his story. Where the information came from Tobei didn't know, but the story about him revealed him as someone who learned the awful truth to SAO and surrounded by people who either wouldn't believe him or had too much of a financial stake in the game to be willing to even check, he tried his best to modify the game to save as many players as he could when Akihiko's programming proved too advanced for one person to delete or remove.

At the very least, people were on the fence about Tobei and not about to try and do a drive-by shooting on him or something. Reporters were calling, but on his lawyers advice he wasn't going to talk to them until he was either officially charged or let go considering his possible role in the SAO scandal. Once that was confirmed he could tell his side of the story either to proclaim his innocence or to gather sympathy points for public notoriety.

A beeping tone suddenly dragged him from his thoughts, bringing the programmer's attention to his computer screen. The police of course had tapped his phone, mail, and internet but Tobei didn't mind that since he wanted the police to know what was going on in his computer. The one particular tone meant something incredibly important as well. Bringing up a window, he saw a readout, a link from his computer to the servers in Argus and everything that was going on in SAO. In particular, it was a readout of his personal addition to Sword Art Online: the Helheim Forest and everything in it.

"So, someone found Gaim," he sighed. "So now it's begun. Kami help you all."

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: The story begins and the game has begun. Akihiko plans have come to fruition, but someone has managed to plant a seed which could very well bloom and bring him down. How will Helheim and the Kamen Riders managed to change everything?


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don't like it...well, I can't please everyone. No flames please. They don't contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 2: Infraction of Rules

**Aincrad - Starter City November 13th 3:30 PM**

Agil rubbed his shoulders as he watched another aspiring adventurer leave his makeshift shop. When the Death Game started, Agil decided that his mercantile skills which he had in real life thanks to his Dicey Cafe were going to be of use. Wanting to do his part to keep as many people alive as possible, he began collecting resources and items which could supply the players with things they needed which he charged a fraction of the price the NPC Merchants did. Things were a little shaky at first since he was just starting, but his experience in the real world allowed him to get situated well enough. By cutting in teams of players or going out himself at times, he could collect plenty of the basic items the players would need. It wasn't too much in terms of effectiveness, but it was early in the game so only basic supplies were available. Fortunately, most mobs around the city were basic as well.

Agil was a pretty big fellow, being African-American he easily stood above almost every Japanese person he met. He was raised in Japan from a young age, his parents having fallen in love with the country and decided to stay. He faced some discrimination, being dark skinned, tall, and with a shaved head and wearing earrings on his left ear but he never let it bother him. Plenty of people thought he was some kind of leg-breaker for the yakuza when they looked at him for the first time. In his neighborhood though, he was something of the local go-to guy for a patient listening ear or someone you could talk to when you were down. He may have looked intimidating, but he had a heart of gold.

He had heard about SAO during all the hype which had been kicked up about how real the game seemed to the players and the experiences of fighting monsters as if you were really doing it instead of through a keyboard or joystick. Being only 25, Agil wasn't out of touch with the newest crazes like some adults were. With so much positive reviews, Agil decided to give the new game a try. In hindsight, he was pretty glad he hadn't been able to convince his wife to play the game with him as a couples event. He didn't need her risking her life in the middle of all the chaos like he was.

When the Death Game began, he was horrified like anyone else. He was also worried. What would happen to his wife? Would she be okay without him? What about his business? One hundred floors was a lot of gaming to go through and everyone would be taking it slow in order to stay alive. Beating Sword Art Online wasn't going to be an afternoon jaunt or a weekend project. From what he heard, it took Beta Testers a month to get to level 8 and that was the Testers working together when death wasn't anything to worry about in SAO. Now, everyone was going to be out for themselves and weren't going to risk themselves until they were ready to curb stomp their opponents.

Unlike many of the other players, Agil didn't despair and not once did he entertain thoughts of suicide. He had a wife and life to get back to and he wasn't going to just give up and kill himself because there was no one there to baby him. There was a way out of Sword Art Online and he intended to do his part in helping everyone get there. He didn't care how long it would take, he was going to get back to the life that Kayaba Akihiko tried to steal!

The creaking of wood alerted Agil to another customer. Looking to the door, he spotted a kid with black hair and a blue tunic walking into his shop. He had a sword slung over his shoulder and it looked like he had a purpose. That could be good or bad. Half the time players entered his shop thinking he had some kind of secret items which could help players survive easier or level up faster. Still, the kid looked like he was serious about what he was looking for.

"Are you Agil?" he asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"That's me," the tall man nodded. "You looking for a cheap set of items?"

"The opposite," the boy replied. Reaching Agil's homemade counter, he opened his inventory before materializing several items. All of them looked like metal locks, but each of them had some kind of fruit or seed on the front. Orange, pineapple, two of them were marked with sunflower seeds, and the last one looked like a walnut.

Agil frowned, "And what am I looking at?"

"Lockseeds," the kid explained. "They grow out in the Helheim Forest. Pick them and they change after a few minutes."

"Helheim Forest?" Agil frowned. "I've never heard of such a place. Just who are you kid?"

"My name's Kirito," the boy replied. "And Helheim forest...it…" he shook his head. "it's a place that shouldn't exist."

Now Agil was feeling rather confused, "Shouldn't exist? What are you talking about kid?"

Kirito looked around, as if trying to see if there was anyone listening in on their conversation, like he was holding some kind of big secret. Seeing no one was around, he leaned in closer and whispered, "A programmer from Argus found out what Akihiko was planning. He wrote in the whole area and a slew of items and creatures to help us out."

"What?" Agil's eyes bulged. Someone from outside actually managed to do something to help them out? "Why didn't he try to shut down the Death Game or something?"

"According to him, Akihiko protected it too well," Kirito replied. "So instead of taking things out, he added stuff in to try and help us out. These Lockseeds are one thing he put in that can really speed up getting through dungeons and maybe help out in other ways."

"They will?" Agil pondered. "What do they do?"

"Well…" Kirito picked up a Himawari (sunflower) Lockseed. Holding it up, he pressed a button on the side which caused the actual lock portion to pop open. Quite suddenly, a zipper appeared at the back of the room and pulled down, opening into a scene of what looked like a misty forest. Agil was shocked alone by the opening, but what came out of the hole shocked him more. A gray hunchbacked creature with blue patches of skin hopped out of the hole. It was about the size of a large teddy bear, but in Agil's opinion it wasn't nearly as cute as one.

"What the-?!"

"It's called _Elementary Inves: Blue_," Kirito explained as the tiny monster wandered about, looking up at the pair curiously. "These guys make up the mobs in the Helheim Forest and they're human-sized. Depending on the Lockseed when I summon one outside, they're this size, bigger, or a different shape altogether. So long as I'm holding the Lockseed that called them, they're completely docile."

"But...but...what about AREA?" Agil gaped.

AREA was actually the Anti-Criminal Code Effect. It was a safety system in place in all population centres in Sword Art Online. It was in effect, a barrier which kept monsters outside of the cities where the players could rest. Inside of the area, players couldn't be hurt by anything that struck them. Their items would be damaged if someone tried, but the player themselves wouldn't be dealt any damage to their HP or be given any negative status effects. Also players who committed crimes who were given an orange indicator couldn't enter AREA without NPC guards attacking them.

"Doesn't seem to bother him," Kirito shrugged, The small Inves Warrior was wandering around the shop with a claw to its mouth like a wandering child.

"...what makes this so helpful for advancing?" asked Agil, eyeing the strange little creature warily.

Kirito looked to the small Inves, "Climb on top of the desk." The little Inves Warrior chirped and began using its claws to climb up the side of Agil's desk and hop onto the surface. Agil immediately noticed Kirito's point.

"They follow orders. We can send them into dangerous areas to scout for us or to see if there's any traps anywhere. We could be saving a lot of lives in dungeon exploration or other areas like that. We might even be able to use the more powerful Inves to fight off monsters and protect other players while in fights with large numbers or with powerful monsters like Bosses."

"Holy…" Agil gaped. He could see the implications and just how the Lockseeds could actually save people from risking themselves in dungeons or in high risk areas that could otherwise kill the unwary or unprepared. It would allow mapping out the Dungeons to be exponentially faster and easier! "Are there more of these Lockseeds in Helheim?"

"They grow all over the place, but the Inves gulp them down like candy," Kirito sighed. "They'll ignore you but if you have Mature Lockseeds like these they'll go after you. If they eat one, they mutate and get stronger. Worse yet, Sword Skills aren't as effective on them."

"They aren't?" Agil frowned. "If this guy is trying to help us then why make so many hazards?"

"According to the message he made, he was making the Inves and the items for another game but when he saw what SAO was going to do he adapted it so that we could get something that is outside of the game's parameters," Kirito shook his head. "If he's telling the truth anyway."

"Right," Agil nodded, crossing his arms and ignoring the Inves Warrior that seemed to curl up to have a nap. "This is a bombshell we're sitting on kid. These Lockseed things alone are going to help a whole lot of people get through this game. Heck, it may even help calm the panicking ones down, like having a pet or something." His eyes then turned hard. "But if these things can get Inves into AREA then there are going to be some people who want to take advantage of that."

"I know, but we can't ignore how much good this could do," Kirito sighed.

"No, we can't," Agil shook his head. "Were there any other item drops in Helheim Forest?"

"Well…" Kirito began, looking reluctant. "There's a...SengokuDriver."

"A what?" asked Agil.

Kirito sighed, "Did you ever watch Kamen Rider during your life?" Seeing Agil nod, he continued. "Well, this is just like that. It's a belt and I can put Lockseeds in it to give me different sets of armor and weapons. Although normal weapons aren't effective on Inves, the ones made by the suit are."

Now Agil had to blink again, "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Kirito nodded, "It's crazy. The suit is so empowering, it lets me easily match players if they were on the second or third floors. I mean, I was that strong! The only downside was that I only get a fraction of the experience I would normally get in a fight."

"Well, kind of an even trade off," Agil nodded. "Still, we're going to need to make a demonstration of this but if we do people are going to want to get some of these Lockseed things. You know what that's going to mean."

"Yeah, we need to go back," Kirito frowned. "Okay, but pack good weapons and be ready for an endurance run. It will take a while to even beat one Inves without a suit." He then lifted the Himawari Lockseed and snapped it shut, prompting the little Inves to wake up and leap back into the zipper hole it used to enter Agil's shop in the first place.

* * *

**Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital - November 13th 4:50 PM**

The silent sound of heart monitors filled the room, indicating signs of life even if the body they were attached to didn't. Like the rest of the ward, it was silent save for the mechanical beeping noise that seemed to echo everywhere. At one point, the sound of a heart going silent with a long beeping noise sounded off but no one panicked. Only a few orderlies moved to remove the body and contact the relatives.

Inside one room, a young woman sat on a chair, holding the hand of a young man who was on the bed with a NerveGear on his head. She had a pageboy-styled cut which was deep black and her eyes were deep brown. She was slightly younger than the boy in the bed and had an athletic frame. She just continued to stare at the boy, her eyes watery as she silently pleaded for the young man to wake up and talk to her again.

Her name was Kirigaya Suguha and the boy on the bed was her brother Kirigata Kazuto.

Since the news came out what happened to the players of Sword Art Online, Suguha was frantic to try and do something to help her brother. She all but demanded they just rip that awful machine off of his head so they could save him. Her parents then told her that any attempt to disassemble or remove the machine would cause it to activate its trap and kill her brother. So he was trapped in the game until someone beat it. For a while, Suguha was inconsolable. Despite the unwanted distance between herself and her brother, she still loved him very much and didn't want anything to happen to him.

Suguha and her brother used to be rather close and she really adored him while they were growing up. They both trained in kendo under her grandfather who was a retired policeman and a kendo national champion. Both of them excelled at the sport but Suguha knew that her grandfather was banking on Kazuto taking over the legacy. He seemed to have the drive and the talent for it and Suguha was actually looking forward to seeing him on the national stage with an award or something.

Then one day, it all just seemed to change.

Kazuto lost interest in kendo and got more into computers like their mom, eventually abandoning kendo altogether. Their grandfather hadn't been pleased with that decision at all. Several attempts had been made to get his interest back in the sport, but Kazuto just pulled away more into his world of computers and online games. Suguha never saw the appeal of such games, seeing them as excuses to ignore reality and lie about who a person was. She really tried to get Kazuto back into the real world where in her mind all the interesting things were but he just continued to shy away and avoid contact with people outside of a computer screen. By the time that awful Sword Art Online game came around, she felt like Kirito and she were strangers in their own house despite having known each other for years. Although she put on a pleasant face, she hated it. She wanted her big brother back.

Now it seemed she was on the brink of losing him in an even worse way.

She'd been keeping up with news about the game and the company that made it, hoping that somebody would find the creator and make him shut the thing down and let everyone go. The only clues they had was a letter he wrote explaining how the players could get themselves out on their own. Computer experts were working around the clock to try and find some way to get the players out but from what she could understand, they didn't want to try anything radical less they trigger something that could kill everyone. Even if they were willing to try, the psycho had created firewalls which were ahead of the times and even the experts were scratching their heads wondering what they should do.

She did hear about one news story which defended one of the employees of Argus. Although public opinion was ready to hang the assistants and programmers who helped Akihiko create his game, citing that for all their intelligence they should have been able to tell that the man was up to _something_ but let the fat paychecks they made blind them. The story went that one of the programmers managed to piece together what Akihiko was planning and tried to stop it, but his computer skills weren't enough to do anything to delete the Death Game Program. Instead, he added elements to the game which weren't part of SAO and hopefully would be enough to overpower a lot of the hazards and bosses in the game in the hands of an experienced gamer. People weren't sure if it wasn't just a lie or not, but Suguha wanted to believe it, anything to improve her brother's chances of coming back alive.

* * *

**Aincrad - Forest of Beginnings November 14th 10:20 AM**

It took a day to get prepared, but Kirito and Agil headed back out into the Forest of Beginnings where the portal to Helheim Forest was located. With Kirito's warnings about wild Inves, Agil donned some slightly thicker armor for protection and hefted a _Heavy Axe_ over his shoulder for some better penetrating power. If the Inves took only a fraction of the damage normal monsters would from SAO weapons then he was going to have to hit hard and deal as much as he could.

"It should be around here," Kirito spoke up, looking around the thick vegetation. "The portals are only in places where players who want to advance can find them."

"So that way the equipment found there is actually put to use instead of being hoarded for money or personal protection?" asked Agil.

"From the sound of it, yeah," Kirito nodded.

Now, Agil considered the fact that this whole trip might be a trap to lure him out and take everything he was worth. Desperate players were rumoured to do that now and then, promising an important quest and when they got a dupe, took them down and robbed them for everything they might have. He then promptly discarded the idea when he took a good look at Kirito. He'd seen plenty of shifty types come into his cafe. Sometimes guys who were sleazeballs, some who tried to hit on his wife thinking she'd want a 'real Japanese man' instead of a foreigner, and just all-around scumbags who thought that they were something cool. All of those guys had the same vibe around them: nothing but trouble. Kirito on the other hand didn't even have a hint of a vibe like that. The kid was being perfectly honest about what he hoped the Lockseeds could help everyone do and wanted to spread the word. He wanted to save as many people as he could. That was why Agil trusted going alone with the kid.

"There it is," Kirito spoke, snapping Agil out of his thoughts.

Easily looking over Kirito's shoulder, he saw that the tall grass that they had been slugging through had emptied into a clearing and right there hanging in the air was a hole lined with a zipper. He blinked at the sight, "Well I'll be weren't kidding."

"And this is just the tip of the iceberg," Kirito told him. "Come on in."

The pair of them entered through the hole in the air, entering into Helheim forest in all its misty glory. The older man couldn't help but gaze at everything, knowing he was in a terrain that was in essence illegal in Sword Art Online. Everything was in a haze and it was like it was perpetually cloudy on in the shade of something bigger. "So where are the Lockseed Trees?"

"You're looking at them," Kirito pointed at the trees around them, all of them sporting purple fruits which seemed inticingly plump. "Just pluck them and after a few minutes of holding onto them they'll turn into Lockseeds. If we get in a scrape, we can throw the fruits to distract the Inves. They love these things. It's apparently all they'll eat."

"Wow," Agil had to admire the sheer number of the fruits around him. There was likely enough for everyone in SAO to have at least one Lockseed for themselves. Reaching out to one particular tree, he plucked a fruit off and looked it over. After a few moments, the fruit flashed, turning into a Lockseed marked with an acorn. "That was quick."

"Yeah. It makes using the fruits as bait or distractions limited to Helheim Forest," Kirito nodded, plucking another flower which turned to a Matsubokkuri (Pinecone) Lockseed. "Well, shall we get picking before an Inves shows up?"

"Right," Agil nodded, beginning to pluck more of the fruits from the trees.

"So are there any other kinds of Inves than those funny gray ones?" asked Agil, pulling off several Lockseed Fruits into his inventory. True to Kirito's word, he didn't have to hold onto them long before they transformed into Mature Lockseeds. Plenty of them turned to Walnut or Himawari Lockseeds while the Acorn and Matsubokkuri were slightly more rare. The hardest to find were the bright fruits like Melon, Orange, or Ichigo.

"Yes, likely stronger too but I never fought it," Kirito answered.

"And your suit can use these to make armor and weapons," commented Agil, looking at a Durian Lockseed he plucked. "Think that would work for all of the Lockseeds or just some of them?"

"Not sure," Kirito shook his head. "I didn't exactly have much time to try and experiment when I was here the last time."

"Should do that sometime," Agil suggested. "Each one of these Lockseeds might have a special weapon to use in a fight."

"Gotta get used to the first one I got," Kirito replied.

"Hey according to what you were told there is more than one of those fancy belt buckles, right?" the merchant asked after several minutes of silent harvesting, "Think we could find those around here?"

"No, I got mine from an NPC. A girl in white," Kirito answered. "She found me, not the other way around. I have no clue how to trigger her appearance. It might be worth a look when we're done here."

"Right," Agil nodded. "Come on, let's grab as many as we can carry. According to you, the wildlife isn't all that friendly."

"Believe me, it isn't," Kirito confirmed.

* * *

_Unknown to the pair, they were being watched by a primitive pair of eyes. Kirito would have easily recognized the creature as a Green Elementary Inves. Like the other Inves, it was made to simply wander in Helheim Forest until a player got close. Until then, they would fulfill their instinctual purpose of eating Lockseeds and attempting to evolve until their next battle. It took notice Agil and Kirito harvesting the fruits. Seeing the situation is was born to react to, it began following a pre-built attack plan. Because it was by itself and on the ground, it decided to go on a stealthy plan of attack. Choice made, it immediately began to follow after the pair, walking slowly as it prepared for a battle._

* * *

Tugging off another Lockseed Fruit, Agil watched the flower turn into Kurumi Lockseed. The novelty of watching the flowers mature hadn't faded but the older man was definitely curious about what else the items could do. Outside Helheim, they could summon an Inves who would obey the person who called them. When opened with someone who had a SengokuDriver it would arm them with armor and a weapon based off the fruit on the seed. What really made Agil curious was what did a Lockseed was opened in the home of the Inves? Lifting up the item in question, he tapped the button and allowed the Lockseed to snap open.

* * *

_The Elementary Inves suddenly stiffened when it heard that snapping noise. It meant food! The glorious food! The food of growing! All thoughts of jumping and fighting the two was forgotten as instead its attention was turned onto the food in the big enemy's hand. All thoughts of subtlety was likewise forgotten as the back of the Inves Warrior shifted open like an insects shell, revealing a pair of insect wings. Buzzing loudly, the Inves soared towards the pair, it's mouth salivating that the thought of devouring that delicious food._

* * *

Agil heard it before anything else. Looking up, he saw a blur of gray and green that smashed into him and pushed him onto his back while something landed on top of him, squirming about like an animal in panic. Grunting, he pushed heavily and managed to get the creature off of him. It landed in a heap, but it allowed Agil to see it and recognize it as an Elementary Inves of the green variety.

"Agil!" Kirito shouted, running over to his partner.

"I'm fine!" Agil grunted, hefting his axe. The blow only took a small portion of his HP out. It was definitely negligible. "Well, at least I can use this as a chance to see this so-called resistance to Sword Skills."

Kirito frowned, but he also drew his sword. He remembered the last time he had taken on Inves Warriors, but he also reasoned that if it was only one they could work together on taking it down and get back to their harvesting. It might take a while, but at the same time it could show them both how much experience an Inves could give, making them a mob for either the lower level or higher level players.

The Elementary Inves grunted and stood up, but that was when the pair of players noticed that it had something clenched in its hands. Caught between its large nails was the Kurumi Lockseed which Agil had popped open a moment ago. Lifting it, the Inves greedily gulped the Lockseed down with a wet growl. The effect was immediate as vines seemed to slither out from behind the Inves and cover it in a cocoon-like shield. It didn't last long before the vines dropped away again, but the Inves inside had changed dramatically.

It was still bipedal, but that was all that stayed the same. The bottom half was white, but the skin appeared as if it were made of stone of some sort. The chest was made of a jade-like stone with lines running over it like a Shiisa from a temple would. Its shoulder pads were large and styled the same and had four long jagged spikes running from its back. Its arms were white and wrapped with orange strips of cloth, but the right arm looked like a large feline claw while the other was more humanoid. Finally its head was made of the green stone with the artistic lines, but it looked like that of a tiger. The beast's name was confirmed as the indicator appeared over its head, _Byakko Inves_.

"This is why you don't let them eat Mature Lockseeds," Kirito groaned, hefting his sword up for a Horizontal.

"Duly noted," Agil agreed, lifting his axe for an Overhead attack.

The Byakko Inves snarled and charged at the pair, its claw arm raised for an attack. Agil and Kirito charged their sword skills, letting their weapons shine brightly. Once the Inves was close enough, both of them charged back at the beast. Kirito, being the faster, reached the monster first and unleashed his Sword Skill which tore a red pixel line across the beast's abdomen. The successful strike managed to distract the monster for a moment which allowed Agil to land his own attack. The Overhead struck down on the Inves' shoulder, making another long cut in the monster's torso.

The Inves screeched and slashed wide, but Agil managed to lean back and avoid the blow. He got some space between himself and the Inves, looking to see how much damage he and Kirito had managed to do to the monster. Even with resistance, those two blows had to have dealt close to thirty or forty percent of its HP…

...27%

"That's it?!" Agil gasped.

"Tsk!" Kirito hissed. The resistance to Sword Skills was even stronger on the evolved Inves than it was on the Inves Warriors!

The Byakko Inves bellowed a second time and charged at Agil a second time and slashed at him. The taller man lifted his axe in an effort to defend and the weapon took the blow. The force knocked Agil back, and the durability points of his weapon dropped like a rock. Another swing of the weapon shattered the axe and left it as blue pixels in the air. Having disarmed Agil, the Byakko Inves smashed him a third time sent the large man crashing into the tree, shaking loose several Lockseed Fruits. Groaning, Agil noted that he had lost a quarter of his HP from that hit alone. If he had taken anymore hits like that, he would've been a goner.

His vision filled with a notice from his inventory, stating that because of the Byakko Inves' attack he had dropped several Lockseeds. Several blue lights flashed around him as several Lockseeds he had picked appeared around him. Some were even open, making it imperative that they be reclaimed before another Inves picked them up and ate them.

"Agil-san!" Kirito cried. He then watched as the Byakko Inves picked up one of the Mature Lockseeds Agil had dropped, the small fruit/machine looking more ominous than ever before. Realizing what this meant based on past experience, Kirito decided to go into action. He took out his Sengoku Driver and strapped it on before bringing out the Orange Lockseed. The Byakko Inves opened its mouth to ingest the Mature Lockseed just as Kirito opened his own.

"**ORANGE!"**

Like before, the Orange Arms appeared over Kirito in a flash of light, hovering in the air. He then swiftly inserted the Lockseed into the Sengoku Driver's slot before locking it in.

"**LOCK ON!"**

"Henshin!" Kirito shouted as he pushed down the knife-like lever, slicing open the Lock Seed.

"**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!"**

The Orange Arms dropped on Kirito's head, generating his bodysuit. The sphere then reconfigured, forming Kirito's armor.

The Byakko Inves roared as it grew to gigantic size and Agil's eyes widened. The beast was large and quadrapedal with two large claws instead of just one, covered in jade green armor with several jagged spires rising from its back. The Byakko Inves then went for the kill when all of a sudden a gunshot was heard. The Byakko Invase was hit in the side and turned its head to face who had dared to fire on it.

There was Kamen Rider Gaim with the Musou Saber aimed at it.

"Agil, get up and run!" Gaim shouted.

"Ki...Kirito?" Agil gaped. Kirito had described the armor but this was the first time Agil had seen it activated. Gaim was also holding the Daidamaru, which to Agil resembled an orange slice but at the same time he was holding his Musou Saber, showing a Dual Wielding skill that was impossible to do in SAO.

The Tiger Inves snarled and charged for Gaim, swiping at him several times. Gaim was forced to dodge and roll several times. Reloading the Musou Saber, he fired off several rounds which exploded against the Inves' head and made it screech even louder. Bellowing, its claws lit up and it slashed, cutting strought through the tree Gaim was trying to hide behind, striking the Rider and sending him crashing to the ground. In front of him, the tree crashed to the ground, spilling Lockseed Flowers in all directions.

"Guh!" Gaim grunted, noting his HP dropping by a good 20%. Considering how big the monster was, he was lucky the blow hadn't taken out more of him. The tree it cut probably absorbed a good portion of the blow. Seeing the Inves leaping closer, Gaim fired several shots into its face, causing it to misjudge the jump and crash to the dirt.

Panting, he glanced at the Inves' HP. After eating that Lockseed, it had recovered what missing HP it had and apparently its toughness increased. His bullets were lucky to do 5% damage at a time in one burst. He was going to need some kind of better attack if he was going to win the fight. Holding the ends of his weapons, he attached his two weapons together with a snap. He just hoped that by combining his weapons, he would increase the damage it would do.

"Here goes!" Gaim called, lunging for the Inves again, this time cutting long strikes across the monster's body. Several glowing red lines were visible across the monster's hide, but they weren't as deep or as easy to make as Gaim had hoped. It did cause some noticeable damage, but not as much or as fast as the Kamen Rider needed to make it an even fight.

In retaliation, the Tiger Inves roared and slashed wide, catching Gaim directly across the chest and sending him crashing into the dirt after a short trip through the air. Hitting the ground, he groaned as he lost 40% of his HP from the savage blow. It made the Rider reflect on the Field Boss battles he fought in the Beta Test.

Agil witnessed as Gaim was having trouble. His weapons just weren't dealing the kind of damage he needed to win, even if the armor itself boosted him to several levels higher than the norm. He then recalled that Kirito told him the Lockseed could generate armor and different weapons when used with the SengokuDriver. With that in mind, he quickly opened his inventory and scrolled through the Lockseeds he had collected. Picking up a promising looking Lockseed, he materialized it into his hand before running to where Gaim was recovering from the blow.

"Kirito, take this!" Agil hurled the Lockseed and Gaim caught it. Standing up, he noticed that it was a Pineapple Lockseed.

"OK!" Gaim understood immediately, standing up. He just hoped that whatever weapon the new Lockseed would give him, it would be something that could help him take on the Inves. With a prayer, he removed the Orange Lockseed.

"**LOCK OFF!**"

He then clicked open the Pineapple Lockseed

"**PINE!**"

The Orange Arms disappeared in orange sparkles as a giant, metal pineapple now floated in the air above Gaim. He then attached the Pineapple Lockseed to his SengokuDriver and locked it in.

"**LOCK ON!**"

And the final touch; he cut it open with the belt's knife-like lever. The inside top half looked like the inside of a pineapple while the bottom half held a morning star shaped like a pineapple. The Pine Arms then dropped on his head and configured itself to form his new armor.

"**SOIYA! PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!**"

The pineapple lowered down and covered Gaim's head before snapping apart. The front folded together to form a chest plate with black sides and square metal studs which were pointed and thick. The sides folded over his shoulders, becoming long and thick armor which covered his arms down to his wrists. The back section likewise folded down into thick protective studded steel. Gaim's helmet even changed, the helmet section being samurai-style with thick yellow square studs with green decoration near the crown. The visor had also changed color, turning yellow and looking like a pineapple slice. Gripped in his hand was a black handle which was connected to a morning star-like head which was shaped like a pineapple, made from heavy and spiked steel.

_You have received Pine Arms armor!_

_You have received Pine Iron!_

Gaim studied his new weapon and spun the chain around to get a feel for it. "Not a sword. This is going to take some getting used to."

The Tiger Inves bellowed, unimpressed, and charged for Gaim once again. The Kamen Rider tensed and began swinging his new weapon wide. He had no experience with the weapon, but while wearing his armor there was an assist system to help him out. He swung wide and smashed the Pine Iron into the Inves' face, causing the monster's hide to crack before it collapsed into the dirt with a shower of soil. Even more shocking, the attack had managed to do 11% damage with a status change to STUN because of where the attack had struck.

"Woah," Gaim gasped, shocked that he managed to do so much with one strike.

"Holy cow!" Agil gaped.

The Tiger Inves growled and managed to shrug off its stunned status before charging at Gaim once again. It slashed wide at Gaim, forcing the Kamen Rider onto the defensive. Its claws sparking against the studded armor, but it did significantly less damage than it did before to Gaim's Orange Arms.

Seeing where the two weapons could connect, Gaim joined the Musou Saber with the Pine Iron and then launched himself at the Inves. He smashed the Pine Iron at the monster's head before swinging to slash it across the face with his Musou Saber. Landing on the ground, he threw the Musou Saber, wrapping it around the monster's leg before pulling sharply. The armor boosted his strength enough to trip up the monster and put it in the dirt again. Another tug brought the sword back before Gaim unleashed a powerful combo of swings, one of which broke a pair of spikes on its back, bringing out bleeding damage, slowly draining the monsters HP.

Gaim watched the monster's HP drop down to its last 30% from his combo attack. He still had one more push to beat the thing, but from the way its eyes were flashing its looked like it was getting ready to really go wild on him. Still, it did present an opportunity for him to unleash a Hissatsu which could deal a huge amount of damage if it landed.

"No harm in trying!" Gaim huffed, pressing down on his belt's sword handle, causing the fruit section of his Lockseed to begin glowing.

"**SOIYA!** **PINE SQUASH!**"

Gaim leaped into the air and once he was high enough, he dropped the Pine Iron and kicked it hard, causing a flash of yellow energy as it shot down, actually growing in size. The weapon struck perfectly, actually getting stuck on the Inves' head and forcing it to begin clutching at the weapon to try and free itself. Gaim's body was then pushed by an invisible force, extending his foot into a flying kick which sparked with more yellow power. The Tiger Inves was wide open before Gaim smashed straight into its torso, leaving a perfectly round hole through its body. Gaim skidded across the ground before coming to a stop. The Inves behind him bellow as yellow power collected to make one big pineapple slice before the Inves collapsed and exploded. The Pine Iron likewise went up, throwing energy pineapple slices in all directions.

"Yosha!" Gaim cheered as he stood up and closed the Pineapple Lockseed. This caused his armor to vanish before he unlocked it from his belt. "So, it's not just one Lockseed I can use. I can use others."

"I guess I can let you have that, free of charge," Agil joked.

"Yeah, but I think we should leave before more of the local wildlife show up," suggested Kirito.

"I agree. We've gathered enough for one trip," said Agil. "Now I need to figure out how to price them."

"Let's talk when we're in a safer area," Kirito replied. "That way we can properly count what we've got." Kirito tugged on a few more Lockseed Flowers and watched as they matured. "OK, let's go."

* * *

**Aincrad - Starter City November 14th 3:30 PM**

It took hours to get back to Starter City, especially with Agil having no extra weapons on him after the Tiger Inves destroyed it. Still, they managed it and returned to Agil's shop in order to take stock of how many Lockseeds they managed to collect. The models ranged from things like seeds and nuts all the way up to exotic fruits. They hadn't tested any of the Lockseeds, either to see what Inves they called or what kind of weapons that they would call for the Gaim Armor. Both players were exhausted and they just wanted to get some rest after their adventure.

"So how are we going to reveal this?" asked Kirito, looking over their haul.

"We need to get the word out fast," Agil frowned, crossing his arms. "The quicker people know about these the quicker people can use them to help their milling and exploration without getting killed. At the same time, we have to make sure people can't get themselves killed by accident with these things."

"So long as they hold onto the Lockseeds, I think they'll be okay," Kirito scratched his head. "At least, it seemed that way when I tested it out."

"Okay," Agil agreed. "So you know anyone who can spread a lot of information?"

Kirito pondered for a moment. He was pretty sure that he did know someone that could spread information about the Lockseeds. The only the problem was that he wasn't sure if she had even signed on to SAO after the Beta Test and if she did, she would be keeping her head down to avoid being lynched by some of the vengeful players who blamed the Beta Testers as much as they did Akihiko.

"Ever hear of a player called Argo the Rat?" asked Kirito finally.

"Who?" Agil blinked.

"She's...an information broker," Kirito explained, trying to pick his words careful. "She'll dig up any information you want and get it to you, or spread information like announcements and such. She doesn't do it for free though. She knows all the ways to get word out in SAO though and she knows a lot of the little details about the game that players will happily pay for."

"Does she?" asked Agil, curious. "How's she know all this?" He watched as Kirito wilted slightly and looked rather uncomfortable. To Agil, it was as clear as day why this Argo knew as much about the game as she did, "Ah, so she's a Beta Tester huh? Same as you?"

"Uh!" Kirito gasped.

"Relax, I'm not one of those guys who blame the Beta Testers for everything," Agil waved off Kirito's growing shock. "I figured it out since you were way too comfortable in this game, even when you were fighting in Helheim. I've been here as long as I have and some of the mechanics still trip me up. You didn't hesitate at all. I figure Argo must be a Beta tester too since she'd know so much about the game."

"Yeah, she is," said Kirito, not bothering to try and hide the truth anymore.

"Do you know how to get into contact with her?" asked Agil.

"She gave me her contact information awhile back," Kirito replied. "I'll call her over and we can discuss and negotiate a business deal with her."

* * *

Kirito knew Argo from the Beta Test, having met her as she delved into just about everything she could learn about the game and grilled players who completed quests before she could. Her goal wasn't to just play SAO, but become a huge broker of information and quests so she could be the economic power of the game along with learning where all the good stuff was. Knowing that, he knew she wouldn't be able to resist a cash cow like this.

Once he gave her the message that he was in possession of some 'premium merchandise', she practically ran like the wind in order to see it for herself. She stormed into Agil's shop, apparently already knowing where it was without having Kirito needing to tell her. She almost kicked the door down, panting from her efforts.

Argo was a little on the short side and wore a long black cloak which hid a lot of her body features. Still, it wasn't enough to hide the claws and throwing knives stored on her belt. Her face was revealed, showing she had chin length and slightly curly auburn hair and brown eyes. The weirdest thing about her appearance was the whisker marks doodled on her face, likely part of where her nickname came from.

"Show me the goods Kii-bo!" she huffed.

"Nice to see you too Argo," Kirito sighed.

"We can go over pleasantries afterwards," Argo waved off the sarcasm. "Now show me!"

So Kirito and Agil showed Argo the collection of Lockseeds they obtained. They explained everything that they knew about them from Helheim Forest, to the Inves, to what applications the Inves could be used for. They didn't skip out on anything that they learned or suspected the Lockseeds were capable of. Argo listened patiently, at first unbelieving that the items came from outside SAO but after watching a Red Elementary Inves toddle around the shop at Agil's command made her think otherwise. Soon enough, she was see Col in her immediate future, as well as a huge section of her Field Guide being written up in her mind.

"Okay Kii-bo, you've convinced me. I'll spread the word, but in exchange I want one of those fancy looking Lockseeds as payment," Argo demanded.

"I thought you took Col as payment," Kirito remarked.

"Well, I'd need one to demonstrate as an example if I want people to be sold on the idea," Argo shrugged. "Plus, it helps that I have a bodyguard I can call anytime."

Kirito nodded, seeing her logic. Being an Information Broker, Argo didn't have many people who trusted her. Many were of the opinion that she would sell her own grandmother for some Col. Being naturally sneaky and admittedly having a business drive for profit didn't help that reputation. However, plenty of players felt she knew who the Beta Testers were and tried to buy the information from her, which she refused. She did know who the Beta Testers were, but she wasn't going to sell people information they were going to use to directly harm the other players. It made her a few enemies, people who accused her of supporting the Beta Testers or being one herself. More than once, some players figured they could get around her prices by forcing her to release the information via beatings. A bodyguard was just what she needed.

Argo scanned the Lockseeds on the table and picked one at random. It resembled a strawberry.

"I'll take this one," she stated, having a love for strawberries. "I think it's just fair since I'll be risking my neck carrying this info for you, Kii-bo."

"I know you avoid public spectacles, but this is too important to let the normal rumor mill spread," Kirito sighed.

"True, true," Argo agreed. "The ability to summon special pets to fight alongside or for you, and even explore dangerous areas and clear traps. The Clearers are going to be gobbling these things up as much as the Inves do." She may be a cutthroat businesswoman but she drew the line at death. "I'll start writing up some guides with my minions and plan some demonstrations."

"Glad for your help," Kirito nodded.

"You should be," Argo grinned. "Just be ready to hand me more of these Lockseeds if I need them. I may end up being a travelling salesman for this."

"I think you should call yourself a Lock Dealer instead," grinned Kirito.

"Hm, Argo the Lock Dealer..." Argo mused. "Sounds better than Argo the Rat. Then I guess that makes you two my Suppliers considering only you two can find this Helheim Forest and fight off the Inves with this Gaim stuff you two keep talking about."

"Well, according to the info I got, the portals will randomly manifest in each of the 100 floors," Kirito said. "The Clearers will have an easier time finding them since they'll be in areas players will likely go through if they want to get to the next floor."

"Like the Forest of Beginnings where the stronger mobs are found with a little bit of exploration," Argo nodded. "So there are probably more portals at the lake, the ruins, and around the dungeon if we're lucky."

"I marked the one we used on my map," Agil mentioned. "We'll probably have to go explore those other areas for portals to see if there are any differences in the sections of Helheim they take us too."

"I just wonder how long until the use of Lockseeds will spread all over SAO," Kirito wondered.

"If we present them right, not long," Agil replied. "Not with everyone looking for anything they can use to protect themselves from what's out there."

"We can only hope," Argo nodded.

* * *

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment - 4:25 PM**

Tobei grunted as he looked down at the floor, covered in broken glass and one rock hurled by someone from outside. Likely it was someone who had a relative trapped in SAO. By his best guess it was a brother, sister, or cousin. If it had been an adult or a parent, likely guns would have been involved, to hell with Japan's strict gun control laws. So with a heavy heart, he began to dust up the glass and begin trying to figure out how he was going to get it fixed. The superintendent of the building stopped accepting his calls and he doubted any repair service would willingly go to his aid if they knew who he was. After his name was outed on the news in relation to SAO, everyone knew who he was. Since then, someone spraypainted KILLER on his car, slashed the tires, and threw a rock through his window. It really began making him consider forgoing his lawyer's advice and talk to at least one news service so he could get his side of the story across.

Tossing the last of the glass into the trash, he put up slabs of cardboard to cover the hole and duct tape to keep it shut. As he did so, his computer gave off a tone again. Concerned, he quickly moved to the keyboard and looked at the alert. He looked concerned at first, but then some relief it him.

"Ryugen, Baron, and Zangetsu so soon? Those guys may just stand a chance," he smiled.

* * *

**Aincrad - Great Canyon November 14 12:07 PM**

Tsuboi Ryotaro, otherwise known as Klein in SAO was a nerd. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He knew it, his friends knew it, and they all accepted it. So as nerds they tended to go out and have fun they only way they knew how when they weren't busy with their white-collar jobs and couldn't get the courage up to try for a date. They played online games and kicked each others' asses in it, or kicked the asses of a whole lot of other people from all over Japan, if not the world. So when Sword Art Online came about, they stayed in line overnight in the street in front of their local outlet just so they could get a copy of it.

It seemed like such a great plan in hindsight. With their NerveGear, Klein and his friends all had plans to go on real adventures like they would imagine in their tabletop games and computer exploits. Instead, it all turned into one big scary deathmatch which could end up killing them if they weren't careful.

After Kayaba Akihiko made his tutorial, Klein had managed to gather up his friends and form a their initially planned party. As it stood, there was safety in numbers. "United we stand, divided we fall" as it were. Kirito's tips had been a great help and he and his pals had been working hard, grinding their levels so they could survive this crazy situation they had gotten themselves in. Survival was phase one of their overall goals. Their second goal was getting through all one hundred levels and get out of Sword Art Online with as many people as they could possibly save. Call them hero wannabes in a certain light, but they were one of the few dedicated groups who aimed to clear Sword Art Online as soon as they could.

But right now, survival was paramount.

"Run, run, run, runrunrun!" Klein screamed as he and his friends ran like their lives depended on it. In truth, their lives really did depend on how fast they could run.

In a way, it looked rather surreal. Since the Mirror revealed their true forms, neither Klein nor his friends looked like the dashing heroic types they wanted to when they first logged into SAO. Instead, they all looked like they did in real life, twenty-something year old men who worked in a cubicle all day and didn't see the sun very often. All of them were dressed in red armor of various quality, showing they at least had some idea of how to tell good items from poor ones. Klein was the only one who really stood out, having spiky red hair and the colourful bandana tied around his head with a goatee. Of course, the additional humor stemmed from how they all looked like they were ready to wet their pants.

Klein and his friends had been grinding as much as they could, but things had gotten crowded around Starter City with so many different groups trying to get stronger at the same time. So after some brainstorming, Klein and his friends Harry One, Dynamm, Kunimittz, Issn, and Dale all headed out for greener pastures so they could get better mobs to themselves. They took a lot of lumps and had a close call or two, but they levelled up fast against such experienced mobs. So when the mobs near the Forest of Beginnings began to be less and less fruitful, they headed out to the Canyonlands. While exploring, they found the Great Canyon and decided to search it for any hidden goodies.

What they got was far worse: A Field Boss.

Field Bosses were Boss-level monsters who existed outside of the dungeon. They were usually found in certain quests or appeared when triggered by something. They sometimes appeared in special battle zones which players could avoid if they wished, but other times a player could accidentally stumble onto them if they didn't know they were there. They could be scary and they were strong, but a suitably prepared group of players would be able to take one down if they played it smart.

Klein and his friends were certainly not prepared for The Sand Wyrm. It was a large worm-like monster which tunneled through the sandy ground like water and was covered in deep brown exoskeleton with a circular mouth filled with black teeth. It also sported four health bars, making it significantly harder to bring it down. Again, a properly prepared group could do that but Klein and company were not that group at the moment. All of their weapons were still rather basic and didn't have the piercing power that they needed to bring down the Wyrm. In other words, they had to get away or end up dead. So they did what people who had common sense would do, they ran for their lives.

The Field Boss proved to be one of the pursuing types and gave chase after the hapless group. It served to make Dale scream in a rather high-pitched manner. The group only picked up the pace, hoping to try and get away from the beast before it managed to get close enough for an attack. Fortunately, the canyon twisted a fair bit which slowed the Wyrm down. However, it couldn't keep curving forever before reaching a dead end somewhere or ending up in an open field where it could catch up with them.

"Klein! Klein! A cave!" Issn shouted, pointing to to a semi-concealed cavern which was much too small for the Wyrm to follow them into.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Klein shouted as he and his friends turned and darted for the cavern that offered them sanctuary. They didn't care if there were more monsters inside, they just needed to get away from the Field Boss before it killed all of them. The group managed to run inside of the cave, leaving the Wyrm to thrash about in fury outside.

The group of gamer nerds didn't stop running though. They hoped that an exit into the outside world away from the Field Boss could be found and they didn't want to stop until they found anything which could help them escape. After a moment of running, the dark sandstone walls quite suddenly gave way to misty forest. The sudden change in scenery wasn't lost on Klein or his friends as they skidded to a halt, crashing into one another and falling into a heap.

"Ow!" "Oof!" "Kunimittz, you're crushing us!" "Who's jabbing me with their sword?" "JUST GET OFF ME!"

The nerds pulled themselves off of the ground. Around them were tall trees filled with purple flowers and growing from the ground were strange plants which twisted and curled in weird colours. Behind them, weird as it sounded, was a zipper that opened in the air and on the other side of the 'fly' was the cave that Klein and his friends had been running through in blind panic. All of them couldn't help but stare at it for a moment, unable to look away from the absurdity of it all. Still, reality set in and they began taking stock of their surroundings.

"Wh-where are we?" asked Dale, looking at the strange forest.

"Dunno," Klein frowned, cautious. He drew his sword, just in case there were denizens in the place who weren't friendly. "Might be a secret area of some kind. Stay alert though. I've got a bad feeling."

The group slowly began to travel through the forests, trying not to make themselves too obvious but that was hard in a group of six guys all wearing armor and wielding weapons. Passing by one of the blooming trees, Klein reached out and took hold of one of the flowers. It felt heavy in his hands, like a fruit which hadn't ripened yet. Always happy for some foodstuff, Klein tugged off the flower and allowed his inventory to alert him to the collection.

"You find something Klein?" asked Harry One.

"Monster bait from the looks of it," Klein replied, reading the inventory description. "Says these fruits are food for things called Inves. We might be able to use these things to distract 'em if we have to."

"Inves?" asked Dynamm. "Are those the mobs here? I never heard of them."

"Me neither, but SAO does have a lot of new stu-WOAH!" Klein yelped when the flower he was holding suddenly transformed into a metal lock decorated with a set of bananas on the front. "What the-?!"

"Holy cow! What happened to it?" asked Kunimittz.

"Hold on," Klein gulped, getting a new explanation window. "Huh...says here if we can get a SengokuDriver, these Lockseeds will give us weapons and armour. Cool! These things can also summon Inves for us outside of Helheim Forest. I guess that's where we are."

"Summon Inves?" asked Dale. "What is this, Pokemon?"

"Hey, if it can help us survive this game I'm all for it," Issn shrugged. Reaching to another tree, he plucked a Lockseed Fruit which soon matured into a Kiwi Lockseed. "Now how do you get these things to work?" Fiddling with it, he found a button on the side. Tapping it, the Lockseed opened with an ominous click.

Immediately, growls began echoing through the area and forced the group of nerds into a defensive circle. Issn dropped his Kiwi Lockseed to join the circle, for any kind of movement. From the bushes, several creatures covered in gray carapace emerged with rumbles and growls. Not all of them looked alike, being coloured red, green, or blue when the men got a good look at them. Still, it was a group of five that were slowly entering the area and looking none too friendly to them. Each of them were immediately revealed as _Elementary Inves_ and then were classified as green, red, or blue depending on their armor.

"Well, better than a Field Boss," Dynamm shrugged, readying himself for a fight.

"Yeah," Klein tensed.

The Elementary Inves all snarled and lunged, but to the surprise of the six men the Inves never made a move towards them. Instead, they all lunged for the Kiwi Lockseed which Issn had dropped. A Blue Elementary Inves managed to reach the Lockseed first, devouring it as the other Inves Warriors tried to get around the feasting one. Once the Lockseed was completely consumed, the Elementary Inves was encircled in vines before emerging as a completely new monster.

The new monster had a bronze-like body covered in blue veins with curved bronze shoulderpads. Emerging from its back were two fire-like extensions which began blue and turned orange near the tips. The face was covered with flat bronze metal with blue lines acting almost like eyeholes. emerging from the top of its head were more flame-like horns which extended rather high. The indicator above the monster likewise changed, renaming it a _Shika Inves_

"Holy crap!" Harry One gasped.

"You mean they get stronger by eating Lockseeds? No fair man!" Dale whined.

"Deal with it!" Klein snapped, lifting his sword again.

The remaining four Elementary Inves backed away from the newly born Shika Inves. The beast growled and turned to the group of six, sniffing the air. It seemed to hone in on Klein who tensed at the beast's laser-like gaze.

"Uh, Klein?" asked Issn. "I think that thing can smell the Lockseed you have on you!"

"Ah damn!" Klein groaned.

The Shika Inves roared and charged at the group of six with the intent of claiming the Lockseed that their leader had on his person. The six men charged up their Sword Skills and with a unifying yell, they charged back at the monster threatening them. Klein, as the fastest out of all his friends managed to strike first, cutting the Inves along the abdomen and staggering it slightly. That allowed Dale, Issn, Harry One, Dynamm, and Kunimittz to use that opening to strike the Inves over and over again in a six-point strike. It was something of a signature attack that the six had cooked up to help compensate for their low levels, aiming to help them take on the Boss when the time came to raid the Dungeon.

"Ha! Got you!" Klein grinned as he turned around, expecting to see the floating pixels of the Inves' death. Instead, he got the sight of the creature turning around and racing at the group. It hit them hard, bashing Dynamm across the face before running past the rest of them, unleashing bashes as he went. All six men went down, clutching areas of their bodies which glowed red to indicate injury. Their HP meters dropped some 8-11% from the blows depending where they got hit. Klein looked up from a blow that got him in the shoulder, seeing that the Inves' HP had only dropped 25%.

"Wh-what?" Klein grunted as he and his friends began to stand up again, "We did all that and it only did that much damage?"

"This has got to be a bug in the game or something!" Dynamm hissed.

"Maybe it has special resistance or something? We need a special weapon to beat it maybe?" asked Dale.

"Oh great! Then where are we supposed to find it?" asked Kunimittz.

"Here it comes again!" shouted Harry One.

For the next few minutes, Klein and his band attempted valiantly to destroy the Inves. However, every Sword Skill they unleashed just seemed to be watered down when it struck, doing only a fraction of the damage it was supposed to. The Shika Inves had no such restriction and was able to strike the men several times for not so inconsiderable damage. Even worse, when the group got the creature to half HP, it leaped over the group and began devouring Lockseed Fruits, instantly regaining its health. It revealed the method of battling the enemy at least, forcing the group to keep on the monster lest it heal itself while they were busy catching their breath. In theory such a foe shouldn't have been too bad and make for good experience, but with how their Sword Skills were so watered down by the beast and how it was able to strike them so easily. Already they burned through several potions, making them concerned if they were truly able to win.

"This has got to be a Field Boss or something!" Dale grunted, holding the glowing wound on his side.

"I think we'd better run!" Issn suggested.

Klein grimaced as he turned to look at his friends. While he did want to advance and get stronger, something that Helheim Forest would no doubt do, he wasn't going to risk his friends' lives for it. Also, he was afraid that if he left Helheim Forest, they wouldn't be able to get back in and any opportunity for special items or weapons would be lost for good. One Lockseed did not count for a successful raid.

"If we have to-OOF!" Klein was cut off when the Inves leaped the distance between them and kicked him in the face, launching him a fair distance through the air before he crashed into the grass. He groaned in pain, noticing his HP bar drop substantially and turned orange. With a groan, he tried to get his senses back as he heard his friends shouting as the Inves attacked them once again.

"GUYS!" Klein yelled, struggling to stand. As he got up, he looked ahead to try and figure out how to best help his friends. As he got to his feet though, he was cut off by the form of a woman who walked around him from behind, planting her palm on his chest. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were two different colours. Dressed in white, she looked like an exotic princes and despite the situation Klein couldn't help but begin blushing.

"A-ha...h-h-hello," Klein stuttered. "Uh...I'm Klein. I'm t-twenty-two and currently a bachelor. Uh, maybe we could..."

"You have been chosen," she said as she held out a black SengokuDriver to him. Klein blinked and took the item, a window opening to reveal what he had been given. He grinned, thinking he just scored points with a pretty girl, but looking up again he saw that the girl was gone. He looked about, but saw that she was nowhere to be seen, "Aw man! Don't tell me I blew it again!"

"_Use the Lockseed, seize your fate,_" the woman's voice rang out.

Klein frowned, looking back to his friends and then at the item. The description said he could use Lockseeds to generate weapons and a suit of armor. With nothing else, he brought the SengokuDriver to his waist which generated a belt to strap it on tight. On the side a red helmet with a gray visor appeared with rainbow eyepieces covered by strips of white metal. Decorating the section was a red background and white vine-like decorations. As he wore it, a trumpet-like call echoed from the belt. Incidentally, it caught the attention of the Shika Inves who began ignoring Klein's friends and slowly began to walk towards him.

"Klein!" yelled Kunimittz. "Run!"

The red-armoured nerd wasn't paying attention to his friends. Instead, Klein studied the Banana Lockseed and found a button on the side. He clicked on it. The black arch section opened and the fruit section began to glow.

"**BANANA!**"

This caused a giant banana to appear, hovering up in the air. Klein looked up, blinking at the odd appearance of the metal fruit. Still, he didn't let it dissuade him as he continued trying to figure out how the machine worked.

"OK, I use it like this then?" Klein asked as he put the Lockseed into the SengokuDriver and locked it in.

"**LOCK ON!**"

"And then do this?" he said as he used the sword-like lever to 'slice' open the Lockseed. The top half appeared like a bunch of bananas being split open while the bottom half held the image of some kind of spear or lance.

"**COME ON! BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF SPEAR!**"

The banana came down and landed squarely on Klein's shoulders, concealing his head. From the contact, a new suit of armor formed over his body. The torso was covered in white quilted armor while the rest of his body was clad in a crimson bodysuit with silver armguards and legguards. Inside the banana, Klein's head was covered in the same helmet which decorated his belt before a set of banana-like horns attached to a smooth silver helmet attached to it, turning the eyepieces bright yellow. The banana then let out a splash of pale yellow power before it began unfolding. Either side of the banana folded down to attach to his shoulders while the sides folded onto his chest and back, the chest pieces appearing like gold sections of pectorals and abs, lined with black.

"Woah!" Klein gasped, grasping at his helmet. "Wh-wh-what kind of armor-?!" In a flash, his hand was then occupied by a pale yellow spear with a black handle and the guard was golden and split into three parts like the peels of a banana. "Woah!"

"EHHHHH?!" Klein's friends gaped at the sight of the new Klein.

"A….ba...bana...banana?" Harry One blinked.

"_Go, Kamen Rider Baron!_" the voice of the Mysterious Girl called out.

"K-Kamen Rider?" Klein, or rather Baron gasped in awe. His vision was then filled with alerts, letting him know what he had been given.

_You have received Kamen Rider Baron armor!_

_You have received Banana Arms armor!_

_You have received Banaspear!_

The Shika Inves snarled, no longer enchanted by the transformation and charged with a loud snarl. Baron yelped and ducked underneath the blow, slashing at the Inves' side as he went. The attack dug deep into the monster's hide and drained a portion of its HP, like what a regular attack would do to a regular monster. The Inves recovered and turned to charge again. Baron lifted his spear and blocked the charge, taking the opportunity to knee the monster in the chest before butting it in the face with the handle of his weapon. Pointing the Banaspear again, he pressed a button near the handle, allowing the spear to extend. He launched another thrust, stabbing the Inves in the chest and knocking it back, draining even more HP.

"Oh man!" Baron admired his weapon. "This rocks!"

The Shika Inves just became pissed off and charged for Baron once again, using what natural agility its animal base afforded it. Baron lifted his weapon again, beginning a dance of death against the monster, both sides striking against one another. Baron was able to dodge or block the strikes with his spear before retaliating with short thrusts or batting its body with his elbows, knees, or even the handle of his weapon.

Seeing his chance, Baron unleashed a devastating thrust into the Shika Inves' chest, striking where the heart should have been. The Inves screeched in agony and stumbled backwards before collapsing onto the dirt. Dragging itself up, it took notice of a Lockseed Tree. Grunting feebly, it reached for one of the Lockseed Fruits to heal itself.

"Oh no you don't!" Baron snapped, beginning to run for the Inves. He only got a few steps before a notice came into his vision about a Hissatsu attack which the system could assist him to do it. Reaching to his belt, he sliced into his Banana Lockseed once again.

"**COME ON! BANANA SQUASH!**"

Baron brought his spear back which began to glow with energy before he thrust forward with it. From the tip, a spear of yellow power shaped in the form of a banana's tip extended forward. The attack struck the Inves in the back, piercing straight through and digging into the bark of the Lockseed Tree. The HP of the Shika Inves dropped like a rock into nothingness. The beast gave off one last cry before it exploded into blue pixels.

"Woo!" Baron cheered, raising his arms into the air in celebration. A victory screen appeared in front of him, denoting his spoils. He got a good amount of Col and even a Lockseed Fruit, but the experience he got was abysmal. "Hey, what gives?!"

"Woo! Level up!" Harry One cheered, he Dale, and Issn glowing to indicate that they had levelled up from the fight. Baron jogged over to his friends and saw that the experience that they had received was at least three times as much as he had gotten.

"Oh come on!" Baron groaned. "That's not fair!"

"You didn't level up either?" asked Kunimittz.

"I only got a third of the experience you guys got!" Baron whined.

"Guess that armor gives you a boost in exchange for EXP. Balances things out," Issn shrugged. "Looks pretty badass though. You totally kicked that thing's ass."

"I know, right?" Baron laughed, his earlier bad mood forgotten. "The chick I got this from said I'm Kamen Rider Baron now! This is like...a total dream come true for me! It's all I ever wanted when I was a kid!"

A sniffle from the armored man caused the rest of the group to sweatdrop. Kunimittz finally had to ask as he watched Baron wiping his face, "Uh...Klein? Are you crying?"

"I'm...I'm just so happy!"

"Well quit crying! I want a turn with it!" said Harry One.

Still sniffling, Baron closed the Banana Lockseed which caused his entire suit to vanish from his body save for the belt. Still crying, he lifted the Driver off of his waist and handed it over to his friend. Harry One eagerly took it and held it to his waist, but to his confusion not even the belt strap wrapped around him, "Huh? Is this thing broken?"

Klein took it back and examined the SengokuDriver before placing it on his waist. Instantly, the belt strap wrapped around his waist. "Works fine with me."

"Don't tell me only Klein can use it!" Issn groaned. "Oh what a rip off!"

"Maybe there's more of them somewhere?" suggested Dale.

"Then let's look! We can pick more Lockseeds along the way! We've got a whole arsenal just waiting for us to use!" Klein called out, wiping his eyes dry. He could already imagine he and his friends being kickass Kamen Riders, even if their armor was based off fruits. It would be the most awesome thing ever! Childhood dreams really did come true!

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: And Kamen Rider Baron joins the fray as our lovable goofball Klein. The second Riders has appeared and begins to affect things. Things are slowly start sprawling out of Akihiko's control as the Kamen Riders begin to pop up and take fate into their own hands.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don't like it...well, I can't please everyone. No flames please. They don't contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 3: Level Up

**Aincrad - Forest of Beginnings Nov 28th, 12:18 PM**

In the two weeks since the induction of the Inves, the tactics of the Clearers changed significantly.

Argo had done her job well. She went straight to Starting City and began demonstrations on how to use the Lockseeds and the tactics the Inves would allow them to use. Many times she ended up summoning a Shika Inves to prove her point, shocking her audience. She hyped them up by outlining what the Inves could do, how to use one, and how they could be used to protect the people who were out in the fields. Once she proved it by being able to order the Inves around like it was some kind of drone. Once people saw that Argo wasn't screwing with them, they began to scramble for the Lockseeds, everyone wanting their own personal protector for out in the field and in the dungeons. They didn't care at all if there was still some things they didn't know about the Lockseeds. They wanted them!

Argo had ranked the Lockseeds depending on the numbers printed on the fronts since the lower numbers and the seed-based Lockseeds usually summoned Elementary Inves of various sizes while the higher-number fruit-based ones summoned evolved Inves like the Shika Inves. As expected, she charged more for the higher ranked Lockseeds. That still didn't stop some adventuring groups from pooling their cash together to get them. Soon Argo was sold out, but she pointed everyone in the direction of Agil's shop who had significantly more in his stock thanks to his recent raid.

In only two weeks, Lockseeds were becoming the newest, if not the first, craze for the players of SAO, both serious and meek alike. Then the players started to brag about how useful or strong their Inves were. This resulted in arguments amongst players. Then, to prove who had the strongest Inves, they started to have their Inves fight each other.

Thus an event called the 'Inves Games' was born. It was a game everyone could take part in, unlike the sword duels which could be called between players. The Inves Games came down to what Lockseed the players had, not how much experience a person had or what items they equipped which made them much more fair for the players who were too afraid to leave the city.

Not only that, but the Lockseeds used in Inves Games were also put on wager. The winner would then claim the loser's Lockseeds at the end of the match. The best players in the games soon had big collections of Lockseeds while more people began trying to get more for themselves. Argo even had the information recorded in the constantly updated Player Guidebook.

The Clearers, the players who were struggling to clear the floor and reach the Dungeon Boss, also praised the use of Inves. In field dungeons or the actual dungeons, the players could send an Inves ahead to test for traps and explore areas while their wielders waited outside of the room and watched their progress. Since the Inves weren't part of SAO's systems, they would be able to trigger traps or open chests just like players could. Even if mobs got out of control, the players could summon Invase to help them even the odds, making them responsible for saving even more players from harm. The Clearers couldn't have enough Lockseeds for their operations.

However, the supply of Lockseeds were quickly running out with so many people wanting more. Fortunately, it was possible to get more from the source. According to Argo, they would need to enter the Helheim Forest and Agil seemed like the guy to go to as he had been there before. Argo didn't tell anyone where Helheim Forest was, wanting to at least keep that a secret for the goal of profit.

So in the nameless village near The Forest of Beginnings Agil had brought in a small party of players after he posted an announcement that he was going on a raid to resupply his Lockseed Stores. He waited at the edge of the town as the group, little more than high school to college with respectable levels, collected together. They all seemed a little intimidated by him, but his reputation as a fair man seemed to calm them down a little.

"Okay," the tall man nodded, looking over a pad of paper. "Is this everyone? Ten-Faced Paladin, KR Chrome, Olefumi Temple, Fenikkusumaru, Archangel Igneel, Shadow Element 13, and Bushido?"

"Yes." "Present!" "Here!" "Hai!" "Can we go yet?" "I'm here." "Do we get Lockseeds as pay?"

"Okay, okay," Agil nodded. "Now for anyone who's still unclear, this is a raid to Helheim Forest where the Lockseed Fruits grow. We go in, get as many as we can carry, and get out. The wild Inves are tough and only take a fraction of damage from Sword Skills that other monsters take. If anything higher than an Elementary Inves attacks us we get the hell out, got it?"

Agreements showed that the group of young men got the message.

"Good," Agil nodded. "Okay then, once we get back you seven have first pick of ONE Lockseed for free. If you'd prefer Col I can provide that. The reward is your choice. So the more Lockseeds we get, the more variety you can pick from so let's get a lot." Excited grins were his reply. Seeing that he had their enthusiasm on his side, he hefted his pack and prepared to leave, "Okay, let's go!"

Agil lead the group into the Forest of Beginnings and soon strayed from the path which caused the party to raise some eyebrows. Straying from the path was a surefire way of getting mobbed by some bad monsters. Not that they couldn't handle themselves, but it would be harder than the monsters that would stray onto the paths. Agil didn't seem all that concerned as he kept going on his way. Pushing through several bushes, he led the group of seven into a clearing which in most cases would have a mob in it. The expected mob wasn't in there, but instead a portal which looked like an open zipper in the air.

"Huh?" Bushido blinked. "This is it?"

"This is it," Agil nodded. "Stay sharp. Summoned Inves may be tame, but the wild ones are something different altogether."

Leading the way once again, Agil brought his raid group through the portal into Helheim Forest proper. The group of seven couldn't help but stare at the multitude of strange plants growing everywhere and the strange sensation in the air. Knowing that Helheim was something of a hack, it made the group feel like they were in the middle of something illegal.

"Okay, see the purple flowers?" asked Agil, gesturing to the trees around them which were practically bursting with the violet fruits. "These are premature Lockseeds. Once a player picks them, they mature into Lockseeds. Pick as many as you can carry. If an Inves attacks, throw a fruit to distract it. They love these things. Just don't let them eat a mature one. It will make things worse for us, especially if its a higher ranked one."

"Sure thing boss!" KR Chrome nodded as he and the others began picking up the flowers. Agil was also hard at work, but after his experiences he was keeping an eye out for any Ines attack. The Byakko Inves during his last trip had been enough of a reality check.

The time passed peacefully, the group chatting a little while they plucked every fruit they could, some shock being explained when they held a fruit too long and it transformed into a Lockseed. No Inves approached and soon the group's inventories were filled to the brim with Mature Lockseeds. Even Agil was filled to the brim even with the backpack he brought which was an item that expanded the size of the user's inventory. Hopefully the haul would be enough to keep his customers happy for a while.

"Okay, is everyone filled up?" asked Agil. Seeing his raid group nod, he continued. "Okay then. Let's get out of here before an Inves decides we look like a good snack."

With their spoils, the raid group made tracks for the exit portal. One by one, they popped through and made their way back for the no-name village and safety. They left Helheim Forest behind, leaving only footsteps to show that they had even been there in the first place. All in all, it was a successful run through the illegal area.

Through the silence of the forest, a figure landed on the ground near the portal. It was covered mainly in black armor with red armor running along its sides. The chest armor looked a little like bat jaws and a snout while it had a cloak over its shoulders that looked like bat wings. The face was likewise a bat-like face with bat wings extending from the sides of its head and feather-like attachments rose from his forehead. Its gauntlets were blood red and had a blood red blade extending from the left arm while its kneecaps had silver spiked armor. Were a player nearby, it would have had an indicator above its head calling it the Komori Inves.

The Komori Inves stared at the portal for a few moments before daring to step closer, looking curiously at it.

When Tobei Tachibana first created the Inves for his Kamen Rider Online game, he had specifically programmed the Inves to wander about and eventually find their way out of Helheim Forest and cause havoc in the main playing area of the game which was a Tokyo-like city. When he decided to add them to SAO as weapons for the players, he tried to reprogram their habits to try and keep them from causing problems and risking the lives of players. He couldn't remove their battle instinct or else they would be useless as summons for the players. So he tried to program habits into the Inves which would have them ignore the portals. In basic terms, if the Inves saw a portal they weren't being summoned through they would be diverted into one of their other behavioral patterns. Sadly, searching for Lockseed Fruits to eat was one of those patterns and witnessing a group of players with a large number of Mature Lockseeds just slipped around that particular safeguard Tachibana tried to create.

The Komori Inves grunted and hopped through the portal, landing in the _Forest of Beginnings_. It landed in a crouch, looking around in curiosity. A slight growl followed it, making the Inves turn around to see one of the monsters the forest hosted, a _Dire Wolf_. The beast, programmed to attack anything that wasn't an NPC or a fellow monster, regarded the Inves as a potential target since even though it wasn't a player, it wasn't programmed into its habits either.

The Inves snarled back, adopting a battle stance with its blade raised. The Wolf accepted the challenge and made a lunge at the Inves. The Komori Inves snarled and leaped back with a wide slash. The blade easily cut through the wolf's hide while its claws, like Sword Skills, did barely anything. The Komori Inves landed on the ground again while the wolf exploded into blue pixels, showing its defeat.

The pest dealt with, the Komori Inves began sniffing the air once again. Quickly catching the scent of Lockseeds, it began trekking through the brush towards the destination of the feast it eagerly anticipated. Coming to another clearing, it spread its arms and allowed its cloak to open before taking to the sky.

After all, what was a bat that could not fly?

* * *

**Aincrad - Nameless Village Nov 28th 2:45 PM**

Agil was at the moment taking stock of the haul that he and his group managed to claim after their successful raid in his room at a local inn. The seven all claimed fruit-based Lockseeds before heading out to try and find a way to have fun with them. That left Agil to take stock of the different classes of Lockseeds he had, using Argo's guide. He'd managed to pick up some good Lockseeds, plenty of the higher level ones, but he had twice as many were of the more common variety. Still, it was plenty of Lockseeds for plenty of the customers who needed them. People were actually leaving orders for him to get specific Lockseeds. At least the raid would allow him to get them all filled.

"Okay, sunflower, sunflower, acorn, pinecone, durian, watermelon, melon, melon, banana…" Agil listed off the haul. Were he a more materialistic person, he'd be excited about all of the money he would be potentially making. As he was, he was more upbeat about the number of lives he'd potentially be saving by spreading the Lockseeds.

"Okay, that's all of them," he nodded, making the final note. Flipping over the papers, he went to his other notices, "Now how many orders are-?"

*BOOM!*

Agil heard some kind of explosion which rocked the inn and took him off his feet. He landed on the floor with a thud and a groan, having hit his chin. Fortunately, such little slip-ups like that didn't take away HP. Shaking his head, he stood up to try and see out the window and figure out just what had happened. As far as he could tell, there was a pillar of smoke rising up from a few buildings into the distance.

"The heck?" Agil frowned. Was some kind of crime going on inside the village? It was supposed to be impossible to do such a thing with AREA in effect. Even if some players got out of control they wouldn't have been able to make an explosion or anything. The only thing that may have been able to do that was an Inves and they wouldn't go berserk…Agil began to pale, "Unless someone dropped their Lockseeds"

Argo found out by accident that if a player dropped a Lockseed by accident while it was in use, the Inves it summoned would go berserk. Only by shutting down the Lockseed used to summon it would it leave back for Helheim Forest. Fortunately, she hadn't been in town at the time and her Shika Inves got distracted by a mob Argo had been using it to fight. Fortunately when she shut the Lockseed the Inves left and she got back into control. With how an Inves could enter AREA if they were summoned, one getting out of control inside a town could be catastrophic.

Gritting his teeth, Agil brought his Heavy Axe out of his inventory and stuffed some Lockseeds into inventory pocket before heading out of the door and straight out of the inn. Dashing down the cobblestone paths, he quickly found the source of the disturbance. In the middle of the street was an Inves which was identified as _Komori Inves_. Around it were familiar faces, the raid group which Agil had hired to help him on his raid into Helheim Forest. They all had their weapons drawn, but as expected their attacks weren't doing much to the monster, the Inves' annoying ability to water down Sword Skills. At the very least, AREA's anti-damage effect wasn't working for Inves likely since Inves didn't count as players and instead as enemy targets. What worried Agil was the fact that when the Inves struck back, it was able to deal them damage in return.

Agil wasn't a computer expert, but he knew enough to figure out what was going on in the mechanics. He had heard of some quests happening inside of cities or villages, like underground areas and such where players could get damaged despite being underneath an AREA effect. If he had to hazard a guess, the Inves wasn't a player so the game was qualifying them as a monster and if a monster was inside of a town then some kind of quest must be in effect. So the game placed the quest rules within cities when the Inves entered the AREA.

Which meant people were unprepared and would likely die if the Inves was allowed to continue.

Hefting his axe, Agil made a charge straight for the Inves, charging his strongest Sword Skill as he went. While it probably wouldn't do a whole lot of damage, the force of the blow would still make the Inves back off and give the group some breathing room. His blow struck true and the laws of physics enforced themselves again as the Komori Inves stumbled back with a red pixel line across its torso.

"Where's this thing's Lockseed?" Agil demanded. "Somewhat shut it so we can send it back!"

"None of us summoned it!" Shadow Element 13 shouted back. "None of us had a chance to use our Lockseeds before this thing flew in and attacked us!"

"I think it followed us back or something!" Ten-Faced Paladin gasped, panting from a fading wound on his right side.

Agil blinked in confusion. Could an Inves actually follow players back to their towns? Since they weren't really a part of SAO's creature schemes and such, it was possible they could go outside of the usual parameters of monsters and actually follow targets all over the level.

Suddenly the Inves seemed a whole lot scarier than before.

"How do we send it back if it didn't come through a Lockseed portal?".asked Olefumi.

Agil grit his teeth and tried to think of something to deal with the situation. There were eight of them against one Inves. If they blitzed the monster they might be able to wear it down if they held out long enough. If they had enough potions and they kept from getting hit too hard then there was a good chance they could beat the Inves themselves. Those odds would increase more if they summoned their own Inves. It was a shame that Kirito was off looking for more portals and clearing more of the floor.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to do this without Kirito," Agil muttered to himself. Looking to his raid group, he began making orders, "Okay, everyone start calling out an Inves! It's our only chance to get rid of this thing!"

The young men all agreed and began pulling out Lockseeds, not one of them being the rare ones they scored from the raid but Himawari, Kurumi, or Matsubokkuri. They all clicked them open, allowing several zipper-covered portals to open in the air, each of them spitting out Elementary Inves who weren't incredibly big, being the size of players at best. Hardly the best help since the seven had claimed high-level Lockseeds after working for him. The follies of being afraid of losing the good stuff could really be annoying.

"Go!" Agil barked, prompting the seven players and their Inves to charge at the Komori Inves.

The attackers made their charge, aiming at the Inves. The elementary Inves reached it first, leaping at their superior with vigor. The Komori Inves struck one down with a slash of its blade, but the remaining six leaped onto the bigger Inves and began biting and clawing at it with ferocity. The raid group was close behind, unleashing several strikes against the Inves.

The kaijin was hardly amused and screeched loudly, causing the group to flinch and cover their ears in pain. The Elementary Inves were forced to do the same, dropping to the ground. One unfortunate Inves got stabbed, shattering into blue pixels. Five Elementary Inves remained, but they were determined to continue.

"That had to have done something, right?" asked Fenikkusumaru.

The Komori Inves snarled and when there was a moment, the HP bar for it opened up once again. It showed progress, a little bit more with the help of the little Inves Warriors, but still it wasn't an inspiring amount. The Inves Warriors were just too weak and Sword Skills were as ineffective as ever.

"This isn't going to be easy," Agil frowned.

The Komori Inves began attacking again, launching a sonic scream which took all of the players and their Inves off of their feet, knocking some HP out of them. It followed up the attack by soaring at the group and slashing wide. Three more Elementary Inves were destroyed before the Komori Inves continued onward.

"Look out!" one of the players screamed.

*SLASH!*

"GAAAHH!"

Screams echoed from the area as the Komori Inves flew past, slashing several of the players as it went past, leaving several glowing red gashes in its wake before it landed once again. Agil grunted, looking at the red pixels floating up from between his fingers as he felt his side. His HP took a bad blow as well, making him grimace further, The Koromi Inves was way faster than the Byakko Inves he saw Kirito fight. Although it apparently didn't have the same striking power, which was fortunate but it still could do a lot of damage to the players. With its speed and ability to fly, it could pluck them all off at its leisure.

Screeching again, the Komori Inves made another charge at the group. This time, the players managed to duck out of the way, but one of the Elementary Inves got destroyed, leaving only one left and its courage seemed to be failing.

Agil got up, a crazy idea coming through his head. Opening up his inventory, he swapped out his Heavy Axe for a Halberd, a weapon which had a special ability of hooking into an opponent for bleeding damage and if used right, could manipulate the movement of the opponent when it was dug into their hides. It was a semi-difficult weapon to get, but a player sold it to Agil since he couldn't use it after winning it in a duel with someone else.

'_My wife is going to kill me if she finds out about this,_' Agil thought darkly to himself. Positioning himself, he charged up a Sword Skill, a simple Thrust but with his choice of weapon it would be something more. He unleashed the skill, fortunately his aim was true as he pierced the shoulder of the Komori Inves clean through. The special effect of the Halberd then came into effect, becoming stuck in the monster's body, producing a bleeding effect.

More importantly, it allowed Agil to have a better leverage against it. Mustering up all the strength his stats would allow, he pushed the Komori Inves back down the street towards the last remaining portal into Helheim Forest, waiting to be used by the remaining Elementary Inves that was running ahead over them, apparently scared out of its wits.

"HYOOOOOOOO!" Agil bellowed as the Inves swiped at him, going for one last push which caused the little Inves to be pressed against its superior before both and the lone player crashed through the portal, landing heavily onto the grassy forest floor. Agil dropped his weapon in the exchange, feeling dizzy from the tumble. Behind him, he heard the noise of a zipper being down up, indicating that the portal to Helheim had closed.

"Great," Agil groaned, looking up to see that the portal and his escape route had indeed vanished. He was on his own.

A snarl alerted him to the Komori Inves who was getting up again. It pulled the Halberd from its shoulder, eliciting some more bleeding damage before it snapped the weapon in two and tossing the pieces away before they pixelized. Agil brought out his Heavy Axe again, preparing to fight for his life and if necessary, run for it if he had to.

The Komori Inves didn't give him a chance before it sent out another screech. The sonic waves impacted his chest, knocking him several feet back into a tree where several Lockseed Fruits dropped onto him as he hit the ground. Groaning, Agil grasped one of the fruits looking for his axe which soon transformed into a Donguri Lockseed.

Shaking the stars from his head, Agil stood up and gripped his axe again. The Komori Inves had stopped its approach staring past the merchant. At first Agil thought that the Inves was staring at the Lockseed in his hands, but something else was capturing its attention. If it could take an Inves' attention away from food he had to see what it was.

Approaching the battle was a young woman in white. She was Japanese, but had blonde hair and heterochromatic eyes. In the real world, Agil would have considered that just as exotic as his own looks were and couldn't help but notice. Because he was in a game world and no indicator was above the girl's head, he simply noted her and regarded her as an NPC he could deal with when the Inves was dealt with.

"You have come to the crossroads. It is time to make a decision," the girl spoke, but Agil didn't take his eyes off the Komori Inves who seemed to be for the moment to be docile. The girl didn't seem to be concerned as she walked past before turning to him. Agil finally began to pay attention to her, ready to bark at her to get out of the way but she held up something in her hands which made him pause.

"A...A SengokuDriver?" Agil gasped, looking at the rare item.

"You must grasp your fate with your hands," the mysterious woman said to Agil as she pressed the SengokuDriver into his hands. "The choice is yours."

The woman then walked away and when Agil tried to turn and see her again, she was gone. The Bat Inves seemed to drop out of its funk and begin snarling again. Looking up Agil, didn't need much of an invitation to his next action. He pressed the Driver to his waist, allowing a yellow belt to strap the Driver to his waist. The blank panel was then marked with a brown helmet styled like a medieval helmet with a metal plating coming down between the eyes. The visor was rainbow-coloured and the background was a faded misty gray.

Agil held up the Lockseed in his hand before hitting the switch on the side.

"**DONGURI**!"

A flash of light ignited in the tree canopy above him as a metal acorn came down, hovering above him. He then placed the Lockseed into the SengokuDriver and locked it in.

"**LOCK ON!**"

"Henshin!" Agil called before pushing the sword-shaped lever down to slice open his Lockseed. The metal acorn dropped on Agil's shoulders, concealing his head as his body was covered in the light brown bodysuit. Silver greaves adorned his legs and white quilt armor protected his torso. Inside, his head was covered by a brown helmet like the one marked on his belt, the back being adorned with a acorn-like decoration, the visor filled with yellow protective plastic.

"**COME ON! DONGURI ARMS! NEVER GIVE UP!**"

The metal acorn, the Donguri Arms, then unfolded as it opened up to reveal Agil in his full armor. The sides split and covered his shoulders, making the acorn cap into strong shoulder armor. The front and back unfolded onto his chest and back, the chest portion holding a round section of armor like a medieval warrior. The Heavy Axe he had been holding onto vanished, arming him with a hammer, the head styled like an acorn.

_You have received Kamen Rider Gridon Armor!_

_You have received Donguri Arms armor!_

_You have received Donkachi_

"_Show the strength of your conviction Kamen Rider Gridon!_" the voice of the Mysterious Girl called through the forest.

Grdion ran his hand down the front of his helmet, feeling even stronger than before. Tapping on the notice screens, he saw that his new equips were boosting his strength and other physical abilities to levels which wouldn't have been out of place on the third or fourth floors. Closing it, he hefted the Donkachi hammer in his hand, feeling it to be a comfortable weight and appearing to be a good solid weapon.

"Alright, time to give this a field test!" Gridon called, taking a stance. The Bat Inves screeched and prepared for another charge…

"**HAI! BUDOU SQUASH!**"

Gridon's future battle was suddenly cut short when multiple purple blasts of energy cut through the air and drilled through the Komori Inves from behind. Unable to withstand the sudden onslaught, the Komori Inves exploded leaving nothing behind.

"Huh? Where did that come from?" Gridon wondered as he scanned the forest. He then spotted a figure in the distance, almost perfectly camouflaged with the wore an almost entirely green outfit with gold accents and black arms and thighs. They looked almost like Chinese robes a soldier would wear. The armor from their Arms were purple with round purple discs with silver rings connected together on the chest and purple layered segments on the shoulders. The helmet was green and gold with large purple eyes. The rest of the helmet was purple with round studs and a tassel on top, looking like it was a Chinese armor helmet. Clenched in their hand was what looked like a handheld gatling gun with purple gems decorating the sides and a green handle on the back. Around their waist was the SengokuDriver with a purple Lockseed loaded inside of it.

Gridon know what the other person was: a Kamen Rider like himself.

Twirling the gun in his hand before holstering it, the green and purple Rider turned and walked away.

"Wait!" Gridon cried, chasing after the green Rider. His mind was going into a whirl to try and get the identity of the green Rider. The fact alone that they were able to use a gun in battle gave them a huge advantage since even archery wasn't used outside of special events in SAO. A long-range attacker would give the Clearers a huge advantage, even if the Rider just told him which Lockseeds gave weapons like that!

Dashing several feet, he lost the figure in the woods when they blended so perfectly in the deep forest with colorful exotic flowers coloring everything inbetween. Gridon looked left and right for any sight of him. However, he did spot something else that he was looking for. He had just found another portal, an exit. As he couldn't see the other Rider and since he didn't want to remain trapped in a place full of Inves, Gridon decided to just go for the portal.

Once Gridon stepped out, he closed up his Donguri Lockseed. In a flash his Donguri Arms and the Gridon Armor dissolved before Agil removed the SengokuDriver from his waist.

"Guess I owe that guy my thanks, if I ever see him again," Agil mused. He looked around to see where he was before bringing up the map. "I'm a long way from home."

He was at _Origin Lake_, an area on the opposite side of the floor from _The Forest of Beginnings!_

* * *

**Aincrad - Origin Lake Nov 28th 2: 59 PM**

Meanwhile, the gunslinging Rider had spied Agil leaving before breathing out a sigh of relief. He closed his Lockseed, allowing the armor and Arms to dissolved.

The gunslinger was a girl.

She was definitely effeminate and slender, standing at only 161cms. She wore green leggings with black shoes with a green top which hung on her shoulders with a black sports top and matching shorts. She also had a white breastplate which covered the left side of her chest, like an archer would need. Her arms were covered by disconnected sleeves, red on her right and black on her left which hung past her wrists. Her face was cute with short black hair with strands of hair tied with white string framing her face down past her chin and half-moon glasses on her eyes.

"Guess I'm not the only one who got this," she said as she studied the SengokuDriver. She couldn't believe that this device had saved her life just one week ago.

Then again, Asada Shino who went by Sinon in SAO wouldn't have expected to be putting her hands on a gun again either.

_**(FLASHBACK)**_

**Aincrad - Origin Lake 1 Week Ago (Nov 21st) 10: 30 AM**

Sinon heaved a sigh as she watched the waters of Origin Lake sparkle in the sunlight. She was by herself, but she honestly felt more comfortable that way. Since she and the others got trapped in SAO, everyone went nuts for a while. Sinon herself had a panic attack and ran out of the city and ended up in one of the smaller villages before she finally calmed down and get her senses back.

Unlike many, Sinon did not entertain thoughts of suicide or giving up and waiting for someone else to help them. Sinon was a survivor and she wasn't going to just roll back and die without doing anything. She didn't do it when the car accident killed her father, she didn't do it when that robber threatened her mother, and she wasn't going to do with with Akihiko's death game looming over her head.

Sinon had actually joined Sword Art Online not because it was a big game or some kind of thrill, but she saw it as a chance to get over one of her insecurities or at least get on the road to getting over it.

When she was two, she and her parents were in a car accident which claimed her father's life. It had actually been six hours before anyone even knew there had been an accident because of the area they were driving through. Her father bled to death and her mother became timid, frail, and easy to harm. Sinon became overprotective of her mother after that, wanting to protect her from everything. Then one day when they were at the post office, a robber attacked. He was likely high on something if he thought he could get a substantial amount from a post office, but that made him more dangerous. Things got chaotic as he became more deranged and dropped his gun while threatening Sinon's mother. The girl then picked up the gun and shot the robber to death with it. She was never charged, but the event left her with an intense fear of guns and a small fear of men. She hoped that by playing SAO she'd get over her fear of men a little, but now it seemed she'd have all the time in the world to work at it at her own pace.

The bespectacled girl shook her head and stood up. There was no time for memories. She was working on getting through to her next level. She had already made something of a name for herself by completing a quest for a seamstress which got her a special outfit, but she was pretty sure it was just because it exposed so much of her skin for perverted boys. After the Mirrors revealed the true faces of all the players, it was discovered that a huge portion of the population were boys. Although her outfit was unique and offered her some high protection for first floor in a quest which was only available once every two weeks, people were more interested in how it outlined her figure rather the mob she had to kill to get the materials for it.

Dusting off her pants, Sinon began walking down the hill while she drew one of her weapons in her inventory. She chose Throwing Daggers as her weapon of choice, seeing as how she had prepared her stats for higher accuracy than normal when she built her avatar.

A recent discovery revealed that a programmer had managed to add things to SAO called Lockseeds and Inves which could make clearing a lot safer and dealing with traps a lot easier. The hard part was finding Helheim Forest where they were supposed to come from. Sinon had been hearing rumors that there was some kind of weird portal near Origin Lake but so far no one had been getting the courage to try and explore it. Rumors about how dangerous wild Inves were kept all players away. Sinon wasn't one of those players and she intended to go into Helheim Forest and get Lockseeds for herself as well as one of the rare items that Argo the Rat called Drivers. Inves were partially immune to Sword Skills, but players who had Drivers could negate that immunity although there was supposedly a drawback to that.

She had explored the beach around the lake, fighting off a few Flying Fish while she was at it but so far hadn't seen any kind of portal that could take her to an illegal hack area.

"Those twerps had better be right about this," Sinon sighed, rubbing her head. She didn't want to have come all the way to Origin Lake only to have made the trip for nothing.

Deciding to circle the lake once again, Sinon set out on the paths looking for any signs of the illegal area or the items that came out of it. She kept an eye out for the normal landmarks, one in particular being a pile of large boulders. Other than the nearby forests and possibly an underground dungeon if some of the clearers were telling the truth. With no other recourse, she headed for the stack of boulders to see what she could find.

Dispatching a Giant Wasp which thought she looked like a good target, Sinon's small trek was uneventful which was how she liked it. Scrambling up some of the boulders, she peered at them and knocked on a few to see if there was any openings she could use. After a few minutes of searching she found an opening between two large boulders which had enough room for someone lithe like her to slip through, unlike the tanks who were getting popular in the adventure groups.

With a bit of flexing, she managed to pull through the rocks and into an underground cavern. It was dark, but light from the opening managed to help her see what was around. A tunnel yawned ahead of her, making it a test of courage. Still, Sinon wasn't one to balk at the dark so making sure she had plenty of throwing knives stocked up, she began travelling into the tunnel towards her goal.

After a few twists and turns, plus almost running into a wall in the darkness Sinon managed to find an open room at the other end of the tunnel. She didn't have to worry about being unable to see since in the middle of the room was an open zipper in the air, revealing a forest area with strange flowers.

"Well I'll be," Sinon smirked. "Those players were telling the truth after all." Walking up to the portal she didn't see anything moving that would indicate a monster waiting to attack her. Still, she kept her Throwing Daggers on hand as she approached the portal. As she drew closer, she stuck her hand through and nothing happened to her. Satisfied, she stepped through, transversing from her dark underground surroundings to a bright forested one.

"So this is Helheim Forest," Sinon admired. She had to admit that it had a kind of bizarre beauty to it compared to some of the other areas of Aincrad's first floor. Sure, the immediate area around Starting City was amazing but after that it just evened out. In comparison, Helheim Forests was almost like stepping into another land like Wonderland or Narnia. A new place filled with all sorts of oddities and weirdness.

Speaking of, Sinon approached one of the trees which had purple flowers growing on it. Argo's field guide mentioned how Lockseeds first grew as purple ball-like fruits before something from outside its habitat plucked them. They'd then mature into real Lockseeds for the ones who picked them. However, Mature Lockseeds drew in Inves more than the fruits did, making it risky to have a lot of them on hand.

"Let's harvest a little," Sinon smiled as she plucked a Lockseed Fruit. After a minute or two, the flower flashed before transforming into a Mature Lockseed. It was mostly gray with a black top, but the fruit emblazoned on the front was the familiar purple of grapes.

"Grapes?" Sinon wondered as she studied the Lockseed she had picked. Her inspection was cut short when she heard movement and spotted a pair of Inves. The gray shells told her that they were the lowest-ranked of the creatures, but always eager for a fight. Fortunately, They hadn't noticed her and were just minding their own business. However, she then spotted one in the air flapping its bug-like wings and it seemed to have noticed her presence.

"SKEEEE!" the monster screeched, bringing the attention of the pair up from their meal to her. Sinon could practically feel their eyes boring into her as she held the Lockseed in her hand. Sinon once again used her cool mind and began using her throwing daggers, aiming at each of the Inves as they tried to draw in closer to her. The daggers didn't do any significant damage, but Sinon had been aiming to use the physics to get the three to back off. Fortunately, the Inves were programmed to react just like other monsters were and they flinched or stumbled in pain when the daggers struck some of their sensitive areas. They were quick to recover, but it gave Sinon more space between them as she tried to back towards the portal out of Helheim.

"Will you run? Will you run from your path?"

Sinon stopped, looking around for the source. Someone being so calm in the face of three advancing Inves? That was a big red alert in her mind. Was she on the verge of a Helheim quest which could get her one of the mysterious sought-after Drivers?

Something dropped to the ground, prompting Sinon to look down at the ground. A black buckle-like device with a sword attachment rested at her feet. Looking up, she saw a girl in white with blonde hair sitting in a tree.

"Face your fate or forever flee from it," the girl spoke, sounding quite grave.

Sinon and looked up at the girl. Since this death game had started it had become a fight for survival since day one. Each and every day could be her last.

"I'm not going to die here," Sinon swore. "I'm not going to run."

She grabbed the Driver and after a help window appeared, she followed the instructions and attached it to her waist. On the blank panel, a green helmet face with a green background appeared with rainbow-coloured eyes. She then raised her Lockseed and hit the switch on the side.

"**BUDOU!**"

"Henshin!" she declared, inserting the Lockseed into her new Driver. She didn't know why she said it. However, it just seemed right to announce her upcoming transformation.

"**LOCK ON!**

A purple flash from above created a metal bunch of grapes, a triangular bunch which even had a metal circle set on several of the grapes and the image was even complete with a stem on top. From the belt, Chinese-style Erhu music played, stunning the three Inves from their approach. Seeing her chance, she pressed the sword handle which 'sliced' the grapes open, the top half being the inside of grapes and the bottom half holding the image of a handheld gun.

"**HAI! BUDOU ARMS! RYU HOU, HA-HA-HA!"**

The metal grapes then dropped, covering Sinon's head as her body was covered in green and black protective cloth like ancient warriors would wear. It was styled like Chinese cloth armor, complete with the decorative cloth at her waist. The metal grapes then unlocked and began to unfold. The top and back folded onto her back, creating a pack-like armor. The sides folded outwards before resting on her shoulders like a samurai's armor. Finally the front folded in half with the top half covering her chest, looking quite ornate. In her hand, the weapon depicted on her Lockseed appeared, a purple jeweled handheld gatling gun which looked partially like a bunch of grapes.

_You have received Kamen Rider Ryugen Armor!_

_You have received Budou Arms armor!_

_You have received Budou Ryuhou!_

Sinon looked herself over and saw the armor that now covered her body. However, it was what she now held in her right hand that was causing her heart rate to accelerate.

It was a gun! In her shock, she dropped the weapon on the ground and jumped back in fright. Taking a deep breath, she recovered enough to pick up the weapon. She carefully inspected it. It seemed pretty ornate and seemed right at home in a game. However, the fact that she was now armed with a gun must violate the rules. This was _Sword _Art Online. That would imply that they would be only using medieval weapons not modern ones like the firearm she now held in her hands. This should be a violation of the rules.

Then again, Helheim Forest and everything in it was a violation of the rules set by Kayaba Akihiko.

She had wanted a way to conquer her fears and now she had the chance. She heard the wild cries of the Inves around her and decided that she didn't want to die because of her fear. Taking a firmer hold of her weapon, the Budou Ryuhou. Besides, the gun wasn't a real gun. None of this was actually real. However, Kayaba Akihiko had made this a death game. It was do or die and Sinon was not interested in meeting an early end.

The Elementary Inves screeched and began another charge at her. Ryugen screamed back and pointed her weapon, firing several rounds of purple energy at the creatures, putting holes through them with red pixels flying through the air from the impacts.

"AHHHHHHH! AHHH! AHHHH! AHHHH! AHHHH!" Ryugen continued to scream, pulling the trigger again and again. The bullets didn't stop, the shots didn't stop, the pixel blood didn't stop flying as again and again she struck the hides of the Elementary Inves. Why she was screaming, she wasn't able to say. She just kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting. Her hand drifted to her belt as she did so, a flash of memory coming from one of the screens that still hovered around her. Gripping the blade portion, she sliced through her Lockseed again.

"**HAI! BUDOU SQUASH!**"

The help system for hissatsu helped pushed her in that action by grabbing the hammer of her weapon and giving it a pull. The grape-like patterns on the Budou Ryuhou glowed as mini-spheres flew off to gathered in front of her weapon's barrel. It shone with purple energy, just like her Lockseed.

Taking aim, she pulled the trigger and fired. The sound of a dragon's roar was heard as she unleashed a concentrated barrage of energy shots at the Inves.

Once the Inves were gone, Ryugen fell to her knees and dropped her gun. Her body trembled fiercely, staring at the Budou Ryuhou as her eyes watered. Her mind replayed the image of the Inves being torn apart by the purple bullets just like that robber she killed so long ago. She knew the monsters weren't real and that the gun hadn't really killed anyone, but it just felt so _real!_

Slowly she closed up the Grape Lockseed, causing the armor to dissolve before removing the Driver. It didn't put up any resistance. A simple tug caused the belt strap to retract. Sinon stared at both the SengokuDriver and the Lockseed. Just what had she accepted?

_**(PRESENT)**_

**Aincrad - Origin Lake (Present Time)**

Since then, Sinon had come to terms with the power she now possessed. As long as she didn't aim her gun at another living player, she knew should be okay. All that she would be killing were monsters and mobs, just computer generated monsters that were never alive. It didn't come easy at first but overtime she got used to the power of her Budou Ryuhou. As long as she kept repeating mentally that none of this was actually real. Consequences, however, still were.

Alone, she tested out the power of her Driver, Lockseed, Arms and weapon and became an experienced user in no time. Unfortunately, she couldn't come to rely on it all the time. She still needed EXP to level up and the armor cost her EXP whenever she defeated enemy mobs. She would only receive a fraction of the EXP she normally would have if she had beaten the mobs without it. So, the Driver would only be used for emergencies and not for grinding. The boost it gave was substantial but in the long run she was going to need the EXP and levels to survive the rest of SAO. She would have to save the armor for big fights. The first floor Boss was sure to qualify.

An icon suddenly lit up in her vision, indicating that she had received a message from another player. Opening her menu, she entered the message system and found indeed she had a new message. Tapping the screen, the message opened up. It came from one of the 'news' players who reported new finds to the players as a whole. It was a group of players who spread messages on behalf of Argo half the time. Still, it was a quick way to get important messages out to all of the players, or at least the majority of them. Sinon had seen the sense of keeping up with the times so had signed on with them for any new news. It was how she learned about the Lockseed presentation when Argo got her hands on some.

"Let's see," Sinon frowned as she read over the message, but then gasped in shock.

_To: Sinon_

_From: Aincrad News Network_

_Subject: First Floor Dungeon_

_Attention all Clearers! The First Floor Boss Room has been discovered! Any and all available Clearers please meet in Tolbana in twenty-four hours! We are holding a strategy meeting on how best to defeat the boss! Anyone who can and/or has the courage to help is welcome!_

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: Okay, both Agil and Sinon gain the powers of Gridon and Ryugen although Agil wasn't given much of a chance to try his out this chapter. Don't worry, he'll still get his time to shine as a Rider. As for Sinon, bet no one expected to see her in Aincrad. If you want a reference on Sinon' outfit, look up what she wears on Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment. Now though, the Boss has been discovered so how will events diverge?


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don't like it...well, I can't please everyone. No flames please. They don't contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 4: Boss Raid

**Aincrad - Tolbana November 29th 10:00**

Word spread fast once news of the Boss Room hit. Everyone who was working to clear the game headed straight for the meeting place so they could do their part. In twenty-four hours, Tolbana was quickly populated with the Clearers who had worked hard to find a way to beat the game.

Tolbana was selected as the meeting place since it was the closest city to the Dungeon. It also had all the stores a group would need to stock up on any kind of raid. It would allow the raid party to get to the Dungeon refreshed and ready for a fight. With how much the majority of the Dungeon would have been cleared, the raid group likely wouldn't have to worry about being jumped by hidden monsters or traps. If they did, that's what they all had their Lockseeds for.

Despite some fears of lack of dedicated players Tolbana was packed with people on the day of the meeting, easily matching or exceeding the natural population of the city. Plenty of them were Clearers, but a good portion were merchants who had decided to try and make a few Col. In terms of economics it was a smart idea, but it didn't stop some people from considering them to be opportunists. Even with that opinion, it still didn't stop some players from buying their wares. Some morals had to be put aside if it would increase their chances of survival.

Among them was Kirito as he watched everyone go about their business from the shadow of a building. He had come to deal with the Boss, but he had a bad feeling about the upcoming fight. During the beta test, it had taken a full raid group of forty-two players to beat the Boss and a lot of them got killed in the process. Back then, the players could be reckless since they would be revived back in Starter City. This time around, none of the players could afford to be reckless and many would be playing defensively if given a choice. That would give the Boss an advantage since it wouldn't be so inclined to fight that way.

Still, the Clearers wouldn't be without their weapons. The Lockseeds and Inves they summoned had given the players a huge advantage and better chance of survival. Kirito was positive that the raid party would be using Inves Tactics (as coined by the Clearers) to help take on the Boss and any distractions it might have. Hopefully Akihiko hadn't done something to prohibit the use of Inves just yet. Kirito would have been there regardless of tactics, but with his SengokuDriver he felt he had a duty to use it in the boss fight if he had to.

"Hey, Kirito! Glad you made it!" Kirito blinked at the call and looked up, seeing a familiar face, albeit better armed than the last time they had seen one another. The elder player was running towards him waving his arm and grinning like a loon.

"Hello, Klein," Kirito smiled. He was glad to see Klein alive. He didn't have many friends so he was concerned for the ones he had made in SAO. He had also felt bad about leaving Klein behind like he did. So concerned about survival, Kirito didn't want to risk anyone's lives in being in a big group be it the others or himself. "Glad to see you're still alive."

"Well, it's all thanks to these babies," said Klein as he displayed his Banana Lockseed. The rest of his friends also held up their Lockseeds. They were all of various quality, but a good quality. "We took down a Field Boss with these babies!"

"Those aren't the ones I sold," someone new spoke up, revealing the large form of Agil. He had never seen a Banana Lockseed before, getting him interested in what qualities it might have. Was it another raid group who got them? "Did Argo sell them to you?"

"Oh these? Got them from the source. These things are freaking useful!" grinned Klein. "That Helheim place is tough, but so worth it!"

"Well, having Inves to scout dungeons and dangerous areas would be good," agreed Kirito. Hearing Klein and his friends went through Helheim Forest actually made him more relieved in a crazy way. It meant that they were stronger than he had hoped.

"Yeah, and now we're taking the fight to the Floor Boss!" Klein grinned. Oh, he felt pumped and optimistic. "Say, Kirito. What level are you at now?"

"Well…" Kirito rubbed the back of his head.

As they talked, they didn't notice a girl wearing glasses walking by, letting her Budou Lockseed hang from her fingers as she went.

* * *

**Aincrad - Tolbana Amphitheatre Nov 29th 10:30 AM**

The time rolled around for the meeting and all of the interested Clearers took seats in the stone amphitheatre. On an elevated stage in the middle was a man with blue hair and a blue tunic wearing standard armor, and had a shield on his back, looking a little like a knight persona.

As the meeting started, the players took their seats. Agil sat down near the front while Klein and his group were in the middle of the stands elsewhere gabbing to one another. Kirito took notice of one in a hood and cloak, sitting a distance away from the others, alone and isolated. He decided to take the seat next to theirs.

"All right everyone!" the man on the stage clapped his hands, bringing attention to himself. "Let's begin the meeting. My name's Diabel. I consider myself a Knight in this game."

"There's no job classes in this game!"

"Yeah, be serious!"

Diabel waved down the laughter before his face grew serious, "I assume you're all here because of the message that went out. I can tell you all that it is true. Yesterday, my party found the Boss Room for the First Dungeon."

The amphitheatre grew quiet, no one was laughing anymore.

"Through the use of Inves Tactics and our own skills, we managed to map the entire dungeon and find the Boss Room," Diabel continued. "I'd like to thank Agil for his work in supplying Clearers with the Lockseeds which upped our schedule by nearly a week." The man waved, bringing a smattering of applause from appreciative customers.

"Okay, now you all know that the only way to get to the second floor is to defeat this boss," Diabel continued. "If we can beat this boss, we can prove to the people in Starting City that we _can_ beat this game and free ourselves! It's just as much my duty as it is yours to do everything we can to advance and get free!"

The players all agreed, Kirito among them. Lots of people were giving up hope in Starting City, believing that it would be impossible to get to the next floor or everyone was just too terrified of death to try. Plenty of them were just resigned to live out the rest of their lives in the game. By hearing that the second floor was opened, it would inspire more of the players to take part in Clearing and hopefully make getting to the Third Floor even easier. They needed all the help they could get, but if no one believed it was possible then no one would try.

"I won't lie to any of you," Diabel added. "This will be dangerous and there is a chance someone could die. Anyone who doesn't feel like they have the courage or the experience to do this can leave now and we won't think any less of you." No one budged from their seats, making Diabel smile. "Okay then, everyone form up into parties of six. No single player can beat a Boss so its going to be a team effort."

Kirito blanched, realizing that he had forgotten about raid parties usually going together as a group. Looking about, he saw that everyone was beginning to group together and form their raid parties. Agil had collected a group of fellows who thought his height would make for a strong contender. Klein and his own friends were already in a party, and it seemed that everyone else seemed to know each other to an extent and were partying together. Looking about, Kirito noticed that the cloaked girl he was sitting next to hadn't budged.

"Uh, so you got left out too?" he asked.

"No," the girl shook her head. "Everyone else just seems to know each other already."

"A solo player?" asked Kirito, a little surprised to see another one like him. Usually solo players didn't like working with anybody. "Well, then would you like to party with me? If only for this fight? Boss battles are going to need a group effort to in."

The girl looked to Kirito, but nodded. He brought up the screens and made the request, the girl pressing her acceptance when it reached her. Her HP bar then lit up under his own, revealing her name to be Asuna. It was a name that gave Kirito pause since he knew that he had seen that name before…

"Excuse me! Is your party filled yet?"

Kirito and Asuna looked up, seeing a girl in an exotic green outfit and glasses approaching them. She waved in a friendly manner, but anyone could tell that she was all professional, "Everyone else has already filled groups and I don't know anybody. Do you have a free space?"

"Uh...yeah," Kirito nodded, making another party request. She quickly accepted it, putting her name under Asuna's, revealing her to be named Sinon.

"Thanks," Sinon bowed politely. "Let's work well together."

"Has everyone partnered up?" asked Diabel. "Okay, then let's begin the strategy meeting portion!"

"Hey, I got something to say!" a man with hair that was spiked, resembling a cactus, shot his hand up. Diabel frowned slightly, but he conceded the floor to him. The got up on stage and turned to face the audience, "OK, listen up! My name's Kibaou and ever since this whole shit-fest started, it seems that us newbies had to rely on ourselves! We've been struggling along while another group of players stole all the best quests and hunting spots! The Beta Testers all left us in the dust to fend for themselves! Yeah, I'm talking to you bastards! I know you're listening! So, any Beta Testers here better identify themselves then surrender all your equipment and Col! While you're at it, hand over your Lockseeds too! With all that Col, you probably have better ones than us!"

Kirito grit his teeth, a wave of guilt washing over him as he remembered how he selfishly left Starting City behind so he could make himself stronger and leaving all of the beginners like Klein behind. He knew it would be safer for others, considering he was diving into higher risk areas so he could level up faster but it didn't take away from the fact that he did leave everyone else behind. Both Sinon and Asuna noticed him flinch and began to grow concerned.

"May I speak?"

Kibaou was silenced when Agil stood up and began walking down the stairs to the stage. Kirito noticed that he was much more tense than usual, giving off none of his friendly aura as he approached the spikey-haired man. It caused the angry Kibaou to flinch as Agil got closer, revealing just how much taller he was than any other Japanese man trapped in the game. To anyone who didn't know him, he would have appeared to be quite intimidating.

"My name is Agil. Let me make sure we're hearing you right," he spoke. "You're saying that because the Beta Testers didn't stay behind to train all of the beginners and tell them what to do, it's their fault that those beginners died. So because of that, any Beta Testers here should give up any items they have and all the Col they collected between the start of the game until now as some kind of compensation."

"Y-yeah, so?" Kibaou grunted.

Agil reached into his pocket and produced a guide book, "I assume you read this guide book which is given out for free to all of the players?" Noticing that other players recognized the book, he continued. "This book was written by the Beta Testers and given out to anyone who wanted it. There is literally no reason why anyone can't have this information." He turned to face the rest of the audience, all of whom looked surprised that the information they were relying on came from the ones they were scorning. "If anything, the beginners profited the most from the Lockseeds as well. It was the beginners who stuck near cities and took their time that got the best Lockseeds first, learned first how to use them, and managed to bridge the gap between themselves and the Beta Testers." He put away the book as he finished his speech, "I came to this meeting to learn from the deaths of those unfortunate people and hopefully keeping it from happening again. What I didn't come here to do is place blame on people are are struggling to survive just like we are."

Agil turned back to look at Kibaou before the man huffed and left the stage. He could tell that the group wasn't going to try and get the Beta Testers to give up what they got. Seeing he made his point, Agil headed back to his own group where they congratulated him on the points he made.

"Can we continue then?" asked Diabel with his arms crossed. Seeing no resistance, he reached into his inventory and manifested the guidebook, his own personal copy. "Okay, the First Floor Boss is part of the information in this guide. His name is _Illfang, The Kobold Lord_ and he is assisted by three _Ruin Kobold Sentinels_. He's armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars and when one runs out, he summons another three Ruin Kobold Sentinels. When he's down to the red in his last health bar, he'll drop the axe and buckler to draw a talwar. His attack pattern will also follow a berserker style."

The group of Clearers began to murmur among one another. They were impressed by the amount of information that they now had on the Boss. It gave his name so they would recognize him in case he was one of those sneaky types, as well as what weapons he used and what kinds of surprises they could expect. It would be a huge advantage for them in the upcoming fight.

"Item distribution after the fight will be normal. If you get an item, it's yours! Experience will be divided automatically depending on how much or little you participate. Agreed?" More nods followed. "Okay. We'll all set out tomorrow at ten in the morning. Gather what supplies you need and say your goodbyes to whoever you need to. If you're late, you'd better catch up or we'll leave you behind!"

The meeting ended, and the groups began to mill about or head out to get what they needed to make their chances of winning better. Klein and his group were gone in a flash to get the goods first while Agil was apparently making connections for better product. Kirito looked to his own teammates, but Asuna was already leaving and Sinon was already reading through the guidebook and deaf to the world. He tried tapping her shoulder but she just brushed it off like a bug bothering her and kept reading. So Kirito shrugged and headed out to see what was available for him to make use of.

While nobody was looking, he took out his Lockseeds. The Pineapple and Orange Arms were his best chance in case things went south. Gaim would be the deciding factor if the programmers decided that Illfang needed to be changed after the Beta Test. As the only Kamen Rider in this game, he would have to use whatever advantage he had at his disposal to make sure they could advance and end this death game.

* * *

**Aincrad - Tolbana Nov 29th 9:12 PM**

Asuna was alone as she took something out of her pocket. It was a Lockseed she had purchased a while back, the front marked with a sunflower seed. She clicked it open and summoned an Elementary Inves, standing at a height matching a puppy's. It stared up at her expectantly and she patted the monster on the head. It might be a potentially dangerous monster, but it was the only companion she had. It saved her life a few times too.

"Hi Momo-chan," Asuna smiled as she pet the small Inves, making it thrum happily. "It's been a while since I called you out, hasn't it?"

Picking up the Inves and carrying it like a pet, Asuna found a secluded bench decorated with a garden and took a seat. Putting her Momo in her lap, she withdrew two Small Loaves and gave one to her Inves, making it look like it was holding a large beach ball. The Inves dug in, thrumming it delight as its mistress also ate. The loaf wasn't as good as Lockseed Fruits to it, but it was edible.

She watched the people of the raid party having their pre-battle celebrations. Mostly it involved some of the groups drinking wine, or whatever passed for wine in Aincrad. They wouldn't get drunk, but it tended to make someone loopy for a while if they had a lot of it. She just couldn't find anything to be celebratory about. They hadn't even gone to see the Boss and they were going off to fight a monster who was stronger than anything any of them had ever fought before. What was there to be celebrating about? For all they knew, they could all be dead by noon tomorrow.

"Do you think he was here with us Momo-chan?" Asuna asked her eating Inves. "The Orange Samurai?"

The Orange Samurai had become a bit of a legend. A mysterious armored warrior. He had come out of nowhere. He had unique weapons which no one had ever seen before and just seemed to breeze through any kind of mob that went up against him. No one knew where he got his equips from, not even the few known Beta Testers knew where he got his equipment from.

Asuna had seen him though, so she knew where the armor came from: Helheim Forest. In the middle of the Orange Samurai's belt was a Lockseed that had been split open. Asuna had tried to split open her own Lockseed for a new weapon, but nothing could crack open the Lockseed she had.

Asuna had met the Orange Samurai after her first week in Aincrad. When the death game had been announced, Asuna freaked out and locked herself in an inn for a week. She eventually got sick of hiding and decided to go down fighting, she went off into Aincrad and fought every kind of monster she could go up against. She risked her life several times and almost died once. One of her stupid stunts had her go into the Dungeon and just fighting everything she could find.

She had pushed herself to the brink when the Orange Samurai appeared, obliterating the kobolds she had been fighting. She was angry at him, saying she didn't need any help. He retorted saying she was going to kill herself if she kept at it. Asuna promptly passed out not long after.

She woke up at a Rejuvenating Spring with the Orange Samurai dripping the healing water onto her, refilling her HP. She was exhausted and the adrenaline had worn off, leaving her almost unable to move on a bed of moss. The Orange Samurai continued tending to her, saying almost nothing. Asuna tried to berate him again, but the Samurai retorted that they shouldn't just throw their lives away when they were able to keep going and escape. He cut off Asuna's arguments by stating that her map of the Dungeon she collected would help the Clearers get through the Dungeon a lot faster and keep more of them alive. Going solo and just plowing through everything was a surefire way to get killed. Working with others, or at least coordinating their knowledge or unique finds would keep them alive a lot longer.

He then left her at the spring with a new sword she could use until she bought replacements for the weapons she lost.

Asuna still went solo, but she wasn't so quick to throw her life away anymore. If she discovered anything unique she would give the information to Argo or her associates so everyone would be able to profit off of it.

She still wanted to see him again.

"It's good bread, isn't it?"

Asuna blinked and looked up, seeing Kirito taking a seat next to her. Asuna didn't say anything, continuing to eat her bread along with her Inves in her lap. Kirito didn't take it as an insult as he took out his own loaf and began eating, "This town has the best bread on the floor. I eat it at least once a day whenever I come by."

"Really?" Asuna asked curiously.

"Yup," Kirito nodded. Reaching into his inventory, he materialized a jar of some kind and set it down between them. "Try it."

"Don't mind if I do," Sinon's voice cut in, the bespectacled girl reaching between the pair to tap the jar, her finger glowing. Bringing out her own loaf, she dragged her finger across the surface, leaving warm cream in its wake.

"Cream?" Asuna blinked.

"Its from a quest in the town back down the path," Kirito answered, taking Sinon's appearance in stride. "I can tell you the trick to it if you'd like."

"I didn't come here to eat good food," Asuna retorted, but her voice was muffled by how fast she was chewing down her cream-covered bread as quickly as possible. Her pet Inves seemed to be doing the same as if it was a Lockseed Fruit.

"I see you're a Lockseed user too," Sinon stated as she looked at the Inves. "Why treat it like a pet? Isn't just a tool?"

"I needed company and I just got attached to him," Asuna shrugged, petting her Inves. "I'm a solo player so not many people like to deal with me thinking I'm a Beta Tester or some kind of snob."

"Well we're going to need everyone's power, Inves and players, If we want to clear this floor," Kirito encouraged.

"So let's not die then," Sinon nodded.

* * *

**Aincrad - First Dungeon November 30th 10:30**

The journey to the Dungeon had been swift. They only took their time to make sure that everyone knew their roles. Not all of the groups would be taking on Illfang. Some of the groups would be fighting to make sure the Ruin Kobold Sentinels wouldn't interfere with the boss battle. Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon would be part of the group making sure the minions wouldn't get in the way. Everyone would also be using the Switch Strategy during the battle. It was discovered that in the midst of a battle, if a player swaps out after disrupting an opponent's attack with a Sword Skill, a partner could take their place and take advantage of the opening for a critical strike. That lag would be open for even longer as the AI guiding the monster in question needed to take a moment to adapt to the new opponent. Of course, everyone would be summoning Inves to further expand their numbers and give them a higher advantage against the enemies.

The group of over forty players were all collected at a large ornate door with Diabel standing in front of it, facing them all. He took in the numbers, serious as one could be when they were about to go into a life or death brawl for the first step to their freedom.

"I only have one thing to say," he spoke seriously. "Let's win!"

"YOSH!" the group shouted back.

Diabel nodded and then pressed his hands against the door, causing them to open on their own. Inside was a long room with pillars on either side and darkened glass encompassing most of the walls. The raid group entered, all of their weapons drawn and ready for a fight. The eerie silence hung in the air along with the darkness, making it seem like a death shroud was choking the air.

"Where is he?" asked Klein.

"There!" another player shouted, pointing at the opposite end of the room.

In the darkness, a pair of red eyes lit up the darkness. In reaction, the glass walls lit up with magic light, illuminating the room and giving a rainbow sheen over everything. It also lit up the monster sitting at the opposite end. It was a large monster, easily towering over the group, standing two meters tall. His skin was red and his gut was huge, painted with diamond patterns. His legs were canine with a stubby tail coming out from under a loincloth and the legs protected by shin armor. His head was canine-like as well, protected by a helmet specially made for a kobold. At his side was an axe which looked crudely made while his other hand clenched a worn but still well-made buckler shield. Strapped to his back was a sword in a sheathe, the talwar which the guidebook mentioned.

The monster snarled at the sight of the Clearers and stood up, hefting his massive axe. The beast leaped from his perch, landing several feet on the ground in front of the throne before rearing back and bellowing loudly. A red indicator appeared above him, announcing his name, _Illfang, The Kobold Lord_. As if answering his call, three flashes of light appeared in front of him, summoning three Kobolds which were human-sized, but adorned in knight-like armor which fit their bodies and equipped with large maces. They were the _Ruin Kobold Sentinels_ which would be helping their master in the fight.

"Everyone! Summon your Inves!" Diabel ordered. The entire group of Clearers brought out their Lockseeds before unlocking them. A mass unzipping noise sounded off before Elementary Inves that were the size of adults leaped out from Helheim Forest into the Boss Room via zipper portals.

"ATTACK!" Diabel barked, pointing his sword at the monsters. The assigned players made their charge, picking out their targets as Illfang and his minions charged right back. The Sentinels met the players first, both sides unleashing their Sword Skills while the Inves followed their masters and picked the same targets.

The Battle for the First Dungeon had begun.

The battle was in essence controlled chaos. Each of the seven parties had their own tasks and they did such, but other than that all hell had broken loose. Three groups were keeping the Sentinels busy, which wasn't easy considering their high offense, defense, and natural agility. The remaining groups were taking on Illfang himself. That also wasn't easy since if the groups surrounded him, he'd unleash a spinning attack that stunned and did a big chunk of damage. The heavily defended tanks of the group would block his strikes while the others would continue slashing at him. With four health bars, it would be a while before they could get even a quarter of the way to finishing him off.

Diabel managed to lead the raid competently. He kept an eye on the minion groups while the other groups worked at Illfang himself. Whenever the group fighting him would get low on health, he'd order another to pick up the slack while they recovered. It was slow going since the Boss was indeed tough and strikes would only do so much and the players were fighting cautiously. The minion groups weren't idle either as every time the main party managed to empty one of his health bars, Illfang would summon another three Ruin Kobold Sentinels which the minion groups would have to take on again. Sometimes the groups wouldn't have finished all three of the previous set when the next three appeared to take part in the fight, making their battle more difficult.

Still, Diabel's strategies were sound and no one died and Illfang's HP was slowly dropping into the red area of his final health bar. Once the yellow bar turned an orange/red Illfang snarled at the group, his eyes narrowing like a cornered animal's. He then hefted his weapons before he threw both his axe and buckler away, letting them crash to the ground.

"Looks like the information was right!" Kibaou grinned, his group agreeing with him as they saw the abandonment of the weapons.

"I'll take it from here!" Diabel grinned, taking command and running for Illfang while charging up a Sword Skill of his own to use for a finishing blow. Kirito blinked in confusion, wondering what Diabel was doing since it went against the strategy he had established for the group to use. Then Kirito remembered a special bonus that came with being the one that struck a killing blow against any monster, but was most desired against Bosses. '_Is Diabel a…!_'

Illfang then reached behind his back and grabbed the weapon in the sheathe. Taking hold of it, he drew the weapon from the sheathe and letting the light catch off its surface. Kirito paled when he saw the weapon. It was a straight edge weapon, made for straight cuts and maneuverability, being somewhat short in comparison to Illfang's body. A talwar was a long, curved weapon which was perfect for wide slashes, but it was a rather basic set of skills that went with it and could be countered if the players knew what they were doing. What Illfang was holding was most certainly not a talwar.

'_A nodachi! Dammit! They changed it from the Beta Test!_' Kirito thought in panic before he kicked the Ruin Kobold Sentinel away to focus on the boss fight, "GET AWAY! THAT'S NOT A TALWAR!"

"Huh?" Diabel blinked, glancing at Kirito.

Illfang snarled and then suddenly _leaped_ into the air, bouncing off of the pillars before launching himself down and slashing Diabel across the man screamed as the force of the blow sent him tumbling backwards. Illfang then dug his claws into the ground and lunged at ridiculous speeds for one of his body mass, slashing Diabel a second time and letting him crash to the ground in a heap.

Kirito yelled out as Illfang leaped into the mob of players and slashed wide, knocking several of them away with painful strikes. Morale quickly broke as players began running for the hills, wanting to get away from Illfang and his newfound speed.

Kirito had faced nodachi Sword Skills in the Beta Test. Just having them required high speed and agility, making fighting such opponents difficult to the unprepared. Giving such skills to Illfang when he was already high in the strength category made him a deadly opponent. Against a group of unprepared players, one was looking at several kills happening at least and a total massacre at worst.

"Diabel!" Kirito yelled, running to the man's side. He materialized a Red Potion to try and heal him, but the blue-haired man stopped him. Both of them knew that the 2-hit combo was an Overkill strike. He wasn't going to survive. "Diabel, why'd you go ahead like that?"

"You were a Beta Tester too weren't you?" he asked weakly. "You know why."

"The Last Attack bonus," Kirito sighed. His guess was right, Diabel was a Beta Tester as well.

"Yes," Diabel nodded, his body starting to pixelate as his HP began to vanish entirely. "Please...beat the Boss. Show the people we can beat this game!" His body then flashed blue, shattering into a cloud of pixels, signalling his death.

As Kirito now held empty air, witnessed as Diabel faded into nothing, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Digging out the SengokuDriver from his pocket, he strapped it on before taking out his Orange Lockseed.

He stared down at it and then turned his gaze at Illfang. His eyes were narrowed in a glare as he stood up and clicked open the Lockseed.

Meanwhile, Klein had just witnessed Diabel's death and decided now it was time to unveil his secret weapon, "Man, shit just got real."

"**ORANGE!**"

Klein blinked when he heard the announcement and gaped as the portal zipped open over Kirito to reveal the Orange Arms as it hovered above him. He then saw that around Kirito's waist was a SengokuDriver.

"Should've known the kid would get one," Klein shook his head in amusement. "Well, guess it's OK then." He strapped on his own SengokuDriver and clicked open his Lockseed.

"**BANANA!"**

An identical portal opened above Klein and his Banana Arms floating above him. This time it was Kirito's turn to gape.

"Thought you were the only one?" Klein questioned, feeling smug. "Henshin!"

Kirito smirked and called out as well, "Henshin!"

They equipped their SengokuDrivers with their Lockseeds then locked them in place.

"**LOCK ON!"**

Then they sliced open their Lockseeds. This caused the metal fruits to drop on them, concealing their heads as they formed the pre-Arms suits.

"**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!"**

"**COME ON! BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF SPEAR!"**

The Arms opened and converted into the armor of both Kamen Riders, arming them with their personal weapons.

"OK, Kirito!" Baron called as he patted his younger friend on the shoulder, wielding the Banaspear. "Let's see how this asshole deals with Kamen Riders!"

"Mind if I join?" offered Agil as he clicked open his Donguri Lockseed, wearing a SengokuDriver around his own waist.

"**DONGURI!"**

The two Riders' jaws dropped at the sight of the Donguri Arms appearing and also that Agil had on a SengokuDriver of his own. He shrugged as he put the Lockseed into the SengokuDriver and gripped the sword-like lever.

"Henshin!"

The Donguri Lockseed was sliced open and the Donguri Arms fell on Agil, donning him in his pre-Arms suit before unfolding to form his Kamen Rider Gridon Donguri Arms armor.

"**COME ON! DONGURI ARMS! NEVER GIVE UP!"**

Gridon hefted the Donkachi. "So, you guys ready?"

"Yosh! Ikuzo!" Gaim commanded and the three Riders charged straight for the Boss. Baron leapt high into the air and stabbed Illfang repeatedly in the face with the Banaspear. Illfang recoiled from the blow before he was blasted backwards by a slam from the Donkachi. Gaim quickly followed up with a dual slash to Illfang's gut with both the Daidamaru and Musou Saber.

The remaining players couldn't help but gape at the sudden transformation of three of their own players. They knew it had something to do with Lockseeds, but they didn't know what the heck the group had done to done themselves in such weird armor. The fact that it was based off seeds and fruit may have caused some laughs in another situation, but this was far from an amusing situation. It didn't stop people from gaping at the three Riders

* * *

Sinon watched as the three Riders fought against Illfang the Kobold Lord. Due to her own experience, she knew that the SengokuDriver provided a significant boost in stats. However, Illfang was still too powerful and his last HP bar was still high despite taking so many hits and being in the red.

It was time for her to step up to the plate. Asuna watched as Sinon took out her SengokuDriver and her eyes widened in surprise to see the bespectacled girl put it on before fishing out her own Lockseed and clicking it open.

"**BUDOU!"**

The Budou Arms floated above her as she placed the Lockseed into her Sengoku Driver, locking it in.

"**LOCK ON!"**

"Henshin!" She sliced open her Lockseed to activate its power. The Budou Arms dropped down on her.

"**HAI! BUDOU ARMS! RYU HOU, HA-HA-HA!"**

As Sinon's Kamen Rider Ryugen Budou Arms armor formed over her, she gripped the Budou Ryuhou tightly as the Budou Arms reconfigured and completed the change. Now clad in her Chinese soldier-themed armor, Kamen Rider Ryugen then charged into battle. Taking aim, she fired at Illfang with rapid shots from her Budou Ryuhou, the loud bangs following one after another.

Illfang bellowed from taking the blows and attempted to use his nodachi skills to block the shots. He was moderately successful since he was programmed to anticipate Throwing Dagger attacks, but the energy bullets were much faster than any thrown blade. After taking a few strikes, he leaped into the air and began bouncing off of the pillars of the room once again, aiming to use his agility to strike down the Riders once again.

Gaim, Baron, and Gridon thought that the Boss would strike at them first, being the closest but they were quickly proven wrong as Illfang made a beeline for Ryugen instead. Another leap shot him through the air, readying a Sword Skill to strike at the green Rider with savage lethality.

"Look out!" Asuna cried, preparing a Linear Sword Skill and lunged at Illfang to protect her teammate. She managed to disrupt the attack, but was knocked out of the way and her cloak was torn off by the nodachi in the process. It revealed her long auburn hair and her simple white and red outfit as she skidded across the ground, Illfang doing the same across from her.

"Asuna!" Ryugen cried then she turned and fired at Illfang.

Meanwhile, Gaim had seen what Illfang tried to do and decided to switch tactics. Illfang still had a decent amount of HP left and with his speed, he could bring down plenty of people before they would do the same to him. First he removed the Orange Lockseed from his SengokuDriver.

"**LOCK OFF!**"

"**PINE!**"

Then he replaced it with the Pineapple Lockseed.

"**LOCK ON!**"

After that he sliced open the Lockseed.

"**SOIYA! PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!**"

The Orange Arms vanished before the Pine Arms descended from another portal. Landing on Gaim's shoulders, they unfolded into proper armor before the Pine Iron appeared in his hands. Swinging it to get used to the weight again, Gaim, Baron, and Gridon charged for Illfang as he turned to menace Asuna and the other Clearers.

"HA!" Gaim yelled, tossing the Pine Iron and letting it crash into Illfang's shoulders, sending red pixels flying in all directions.

"Let's go!" Baron yelled, charging for Illfang and thrusting with the Banaspear, digging into the Boss' hide.

"HRRAAAGH!" Gridon bellowed, smashing his hammer into Illfang's side. The force caused Illfang to stumble before he leaped away again.

"Bouncy little bastard, isn't he?" Baron panted as he and the other Riders.

"These scrapes and bruises aren't doing much and he's just got so much fat we can't dig in and get to sensitive areas," Ryugen frowned. "We need to hit him hard and all at once or else he's just going to keep bouncing around and kill someone."

Gaim looked to the Pine Iron in his hands before looking to the recovering Illfang, "Okay, so let's make it a united attack."

"A hissatsu?" asked Baron.

"Sure," Gaim nodded before he turned to face Illfang once again, reaching to his Driver. "Let's do this!"

** "****SOIYA!**** PINE SQUASH!"**

"**HAI!**** BUDOU SQUASH!"**

"**COME ON! ****BANANA SQUASH!"**

"**COME ON!**** DONGURI SQUASH!" **

"HYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Ryugen, Gaim, Gridon, and Baron all made a charge directly at Illfang as the Boss raised his guard and anticipated their attacks. Gaim moved ahead of the others before he dropped and kicked the Pine Iron like a soccer ball. The weapon's main piece enlarged itself and stuck itself to Illfang's head. As the Boss struggled to remove the obstruction upon its head. Ryugen was taking aim with the Budou Ryuhou while Baron and Gridon were preparing their own finishers.

Rapid shots of purple energy erupted from the Budou Ryuhou, pelting Illfang mercilessly. Once Ryugen exhausted her ammo, Baron rushed ahead and stabbed the Banaspear forward, running Illfang through with an energy projection in the shape of a banana.

Baron then dodged out of the way, allowing Gridon to continue have his turn to attack. Heaving his arms, he spun on the spot with his weapon held out. He didn't stand still, but continued moving at Illfang with the image of an acorn appearing over him. Illfang grunted from the piercing stab he took and still struggled before Gridon struck his stomach with a powerful hammer strike. His gut actually _rippled_ from the strike, creating a large area of red pixels, taking the kobold off the ground as he stumbled backwards.

"Kirito!" the three Riders shouted to their yellow and blue comrade.

"Yosh!" the last Kamen Rider nodded. Taking a running start, the first of the Riders ran towards the struggling Illfang who was on his last legs, his last bit of health blinking in his health bar. Seeing his chance, Gaim jumped into the air before he performed a flying kick and smashed straight through Illfang, leaving a large gaping hole in its chest. This was all it took to bring Illfang's HP to zero before the Boss dissolved in an explosion of pixels.

_CONGRATULATIONS!_

The room was silent as the rainbow light from the glass walls died down. No one was really able to speak, wondering if what they saw was true. Illfang had been destroyed by four figures that were dressed in colourful suits of armor. It wasn't until battle result screens popped up in front of all of the players, some of them levelling up in the process, did the reality come down onto them.

They had cleared the first floor!

Cheers erupted from the Clearers as they not only survived, beat Illfang, but also got one step closer to freeing themselves from Sword Art Online!

The Kamen Riders were alone in their own group, looking over their own Battle Results. As expected, they only got a fraction of the experience they normally would have gotten after using the armor. It didn't stop the influx of Col and any items they normally would have received. Gaim even got a note that he got the Last Attack bonus, receiving an item called the Coat of Midnight for his efforts.

"Woo! We did it!" Baron cheered. "We beat that ugly bastard!"

"Yeah..." said Gaim softly, still recovering. Diabel had died so they hadn't gotten through this completely unscathed.

"You bastards! How could you let Diabel die!"

The cheering stopped as everyone turned to see Kibaou on his knees, glaring at the four Kamen Riders with loathing. He stood up before stomping over to the four, looking like he was ready for a fight, "You had those suits the whole time didn't you?! Why didn't you use them at the start? You only did it because you wanted to score the most at the end didn't you?! You let Diabel die so you could feel out the Boss!"

"Hey, what are you accusing us of exactly!?" Baron demanded.

"Cheating and sacrificing us!" Kibaou snapped back. "Those suits have to be an illegal hack or something!"

"Well duh!" Ryugen huffed, crossing her arms. "They come from Helheim Forest, they're powered by Lockseeds, of course they're a hack! They're all from that programmer who's been busting his ass to give us the Lockseeds and Inves!"

"And we had a _full_ raid group with us," Gridon followed up. "We were saving these suits in case of an emergency. Besides, these are as you say _illegal hacks_. There was no way we could be sure that they would even work in a Boss battle. Kayaba Akihiko could have made some kind of prohibition against these suits or something. Now that we showed them off in a boss fight, he may just do that!"

Kibaou, however, was not letting up as he continued, "Then you should share those suits and give them to people who really need them!"

"Tried to," Baron shrugged. "Once I got mine I tried to share it with all my guys. They lock onto our ID codes or something. They only work for the people who put them on first and no one else after that."

"Yeah!" one guy called, soon a bunch of men dressed in red armor like Klein's before his change trotted up to the group. A portly fellow with a spear took the lead, "We passed that sucker all around us when Klein first got it. Didn't work at all man."

"It's super-rare too," another of the crew nodded. "When Klein got his we all searched Helheim Forest high and low looking for the chick who hands them out. We didn't see a trace of her ever since."

Kibaou gritted his teeth, his face red.

"Besides, did you really think this was going to be easy? There was a chance we would die here," added Gridon. "It's sad, but we all accepted that it could happen. One thing that we _didn't_ do though is _let_ someone die just so we could show off or get the most experience! So, stop having a tantrum. Everyone gave their all to clear this floor now we need to keep on going. Diabel was ready to give up his life. You should honor him instead of spitting on his sacrifice like this."

Altogether, the Kamen Riders closed up their Lockseeds, causing their suits to dissolve. It seemed to break the spell over the audience and they began to murmur. It was clear they were a little upset that the Riders didn't bring the suits out immediately, but they all brought up good points about why they didn't. Also, they did remember that they were all willing to risk their lives in order to beat the Boss. They didn't want anyone to die, but they accepted that it might happen during the fight. They could grieve, but they could all accept that they didn't _let_ it happen since they were all in the same boat.

Asuna was just stunned to discover the identity of the Orange Samurai. The man who inspired her to live and survive as best she could in SAO was a boy her own age? He had been sitting right next to her before and after the meeting! She'd been fighting next to him the whole fight!

Sighing, Kirito turned from the group and headed to the second exit, a door which had opened behind Illfang's throne, "Come on. Everyone is waiting for a sign that we made it. We should activate the teleporter in the main city. It's time we spread the word and move on."

Kirito then began his trek to the far side of the room. Before too long, Sinon, Klein, Asuna, Agil, and the rest of their supporters followed them. Only the odd ones out like Kibaou were left behind before even they grudgingly followed. The passed through the door and travelled up a set of stairs before reaching another set of doors. Kirito took the leap and pushed them open, momentarily blinking before their eyes adjusted.

They were met with a blue sky and open plains. In the distance were several, make that many mountains which were the main scenery of the floor. The group exited from the dungeon, coming out of a cliff face onto the path. So far, the path was the only sign of civilization, but it was a positive sign that everyone was happy to see.

They had reached the Second Floor.

"Feels good," Klein grinned before he deflated, "Now...99 more floors...to go." He hung his head as his friends patted him on the shoulders reassuringly. It had taken them a month to clear the first floor. The other floors were going to get progressively harder with even stronger mobs and Bosses.

Still, the entire group just wanted some rest so they began walking down the path towards the next town. If nothing changed from Beta Test, the upcoming town should be Urbus and it would have the teleporter which people could use to instantly travel up from the first floor. Just touching it would activate it.

"So, never pegged you to be a Kamen Rider and the only one with a gun," Kirito spoke to Sinon.

"Neither did you mention you were the Orange Samurai," Sinon retorted. "So, how exactly-"

"Wait, Kirito-kun! Sinon-san!" Asuna called to the two Kamen Riders. The two Riders paused for a second to regard her. She was grateful for them both but her eyes were on Kirito. "You were the one that saved me that day."

"Yeah," he replied.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she huffed.

"Well, I didn't think it was important," he answered and Asuna furrowed her brows. Why was she getting mad? It wasn't like Kirito was his real name either. "You were safe. That's all that matters."

"Well...I guess I can't argue with that," Asuna agreed, although there was a warm sensation in her stomach from hearing a boy say something like that to her and mean it.

"So, what are your plans from here?" Sinon asked Asuna.

"You should join a party, make some friends," Kirito suggested to Asuna. "You shouldn't go solo. Not at least until you're sure you've got a handle on everything. The mobs and quests are going to be even harder now than on the First Floor."

"What about you?" Asuna asked.

"I'm better on my own," Kirito answered.

"Me too," Sinon stated. "Besides, I got this." She held up her SengokuDriver. Asuna wanted to argue the point, especially the hypocrisy of telling her to join others when they were solo. She just couldn't since they had those Drivers to boost them to higher levels than before. They could afford to go solo when not many others could.

"You know, after today, people are going to spread a lot of information on your armors," the brunette warned. "People will probably want you to join up in their parties or get you involved in the raid party for this floor's Boss."

"And we'll be there," Kirito nodded. "We can't keep these to ourselves and it was inevitable that someone lets the secret out. At least this way no one can say we were hoarding them to protect ourselves. We were given this power for a reason. I think clearing all 100 floors is that reason."

"Just be careful, OK?"

"Sure," Kirito smiled back.

* * *

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment - November 29th 5: 42 PM**

Tobei settled down in front of the television once again for the evening, his phone unplugged as the number of calls had been ridiculous. If it wasn't the reporters trying to call him up to get something about SAO out of him, it was the relatives of the people trapped inside either threatening him or begging him to do anything to get their loved ones out of the death game. It didn't get any easier having to listen to their pleading since he had already tried to stop the game from happening, but failed. Only adding his Kamen Rider system did he really feel like he had managed to do _something_ in order to save the players.

The lawsuits against Argus were going down the tubes for the company. With every death of a player, another family was suing the company for their role in that player's death. Argus managed to worm their way out of the first 200 deaths since they argued that their product had been sabotaged and ignorant interference on the part of the families were just as at fault for those deaths. With the deaths of players in the game, the suicides, and the deaths by being attacked by something, Argus couldn't exactly say it wasn't their fault. They had been the ones who cleared all the monster designs, quest scenarios, trap placement, and pretty much every way a person could get killed in SAO. Not to mention they had been the ones who allowed Kayaba Akihiko to create the game his way. So in a way, they allowed the game's lethalities to be created even if they didn't know what their golden child had been up to. A liability like that was quickly picked up by all of the prosecuting lawyers and Argus looked like it was going to be sunk unless they found a new kind of evidence and/or excuse to use.

That didn't matter too much to Tobei. He had quit Argus after SAO launched, not wanting to be part of it anymore since it had allowed things to be mismanaged so badly it allowed Akihiko to do what he did. It didn't stop people from cursing him for his role in SAO, but it made him feel like he wasn't taking part in blood money like the other programmers who were trying to hoard what they could and get out of the city. If anything, Tobei's lawyers told him that his actions may have helped him get an eventual acquittal from any charges, especially compared to the other programmers who were going to hiding.

"Akihiko, what is the point of all this?" Tobei sighed, once more feeling the weight of every death on his shoulders.

A sharp ring snapped Tobei out of his growing funk. Blinking, Tobei stood up and approached his front door. He was wary, remembering how one of his fellow programmers got jumped in his own home by an angry family member. Reaching the door, slowly opening it but keeping the chain lock from letting it open only so far. He was expecting perhaps a police officer, a lawyer, or an angry family member of an SAO player.

What he got was a teenage girl. She wore a gray school uniform and had black hair in a pageboy cut with dark eyes. She seemed old enough for high school or just leaving middle school. Tobei wasn't sure since kids seemed to grow so damn fast. Still, she didn't seem to be sporting him ill will considering the unsure and possibly even fear in her eyes.

"Yes?" Tobei asked warily. After all, the girl might be bait for something.

"Ano...are you Tobei Tachibana-san?" asked the girl.

Tobei sighed, "I am. What do you want?"

"I….I…" the girl fidgeted, looking at her feet. Obviously she was mustering a lot of courage in coming to his door for anything, "I...want you to find...my brother."

"You want me to find your brother?" Tobei blinked in confusion, but then he suddenly got why she was asking him of all people, "Ah, he's a player in Sword Art Online isn't he?"

"Yes…" the girl nodded. "I...I know he's alive...but I need to know if he's okay."

Tobei sighed, scratching his head. Closing his door slightly, he undid the lock before opening it again properly and gesturing inside, "Please come inside. I have a feeling that this might take a while. I'll have some tea made so you can explain yourself properly."

"Thank-you," the girl nodded as she entered the apartment, Tobei closing the door behind her. He could tell he was going to need a while to get through this new bump in the road.

**_To Be Continued…_**

A/N: Well, the First Floor boss has been defeated and the players are able to progress. The identities of the Riders are out as well. Some Kibaou don't seem to have that great of an opinion about them though. How this will affect the dynamics between the groups of Clearers is hard to say. It's only the First Floor of the game. So if you guys want to see more, keep sending in reviews. They inspire the writers all over.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don't like it...well, I can't please everyone. No flames please. They don't contribute to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 5: Gamer Girls

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment - November 25th 6:00 PM**

"Would you like some tea, uh...Suguha-san?" asked Tobei awkwardly.

"Um...yes please," the girl sitting in his living room nodded insecurely.

Tobei scratched the back of his neck as he headed to his kitchen to see if he could drag out his old tea seat. He only ever brought it out for his parents when they made their bi-monthly visits to bug him about why they weren't grandparents or they didn't have a daughter-in-law yet. So he hadn't taken it out since the last time and he wasn't really sure if he had any tea left or if it was still good.

Of course, all that potential embarrassment was enhanced by the fact that he had a teenage girl in his apartment. An admittedly cute one too. If any of his neighbours saw, it would only add further stigma to his name and get him branded as some kind of pervert. A guy nearing his thirties should not have teenage girls in his apartment unless they were related somehow! If her parents found she was there, they would likely try to sue or kill him for his role in SAO and their son's current predicament.

'_That's the crux of the issue isn't it?_' Tobei thought to himself as he pulled out the set and put the kettle on. '_Her brother's trapped in SAO and you're one of the programmers who got publicly outed, if only because you're the only one who tried to do anything about it so far. She came to you for help and you'd better find some way to do that damn you!_'

After the water heated and the tea was prepared, Tobei brought the set out for Suguha where he poured her a cup and handed it over to her, "Here. I hope it's to your taste."

"Thank you," Suguha nodded before she took a sip. "It's good."

"Good to hear," Tobei nodded. "Now, before we got any further I just need to know: how did you find out who I was and where to find me? I've been trying to lay low ever since this whole SAO mess started up."

"Well…" Suguha mumbled. "One of my friends, she's into those kinds of games. She's kept track of SAO ever since the first test but she missed out on getting a copy. Ever since this all started she's been keeping track of everything. Your name came up as the only person who the news has anything good to say so I asked her to help me find you."

"Wow. I guess you really can find anything online," Tobei scratched his cheek. "Okay, so you tracked me down so I can help you find your brother?"

"Yes!" Suguha nodded. "You...you have to be able to do something! You helped make the game, right? You added a bunch of stuff to save the players! Maybe you could find Onii-chan or maybe find a way to even get him out!"

'_Oh here comes the heartbreak_,' Tobei thought to himself sadly. "Suguha-san...When Akihito had us all creating Sword Art Online, he regulated _everything_. I mean, no one worked on anything except what they were assigned to and for all the money Argus was paying us to make this game no one wanted to ask questions which could get them kicked off the project. No one knows anything about how SAO works in its entirety. Hell, what pieces we do know are highly complicated even for us. Akihiko is ahead of his times and he's put it into everything."

Suguha wilted at the news, "But...you...you put…"

"I was able to put in the Kamen Rider systems is because I worked behind Akihiko's back in some of the other departments that needed an extra hand," Tobei replied. "But what he's done with the Death Game protocols is something none of us ever touched on or even seen. I tried deleting it before the game went online and the I was only able to get rid of bits and pieces before the governing AI of the game replaced what I removed. Right now I doubt anything can be done since the government is more concerned about who to blame and all of the programmers are going underground since people are taking out their anger on them.

Suguha wilted further, staring down at the floor while her tea was forgotten. Her shoulders were trembling and she looked like she was about to cry. It made Tobei want to kick himself for making her that way when all she wanted was a little hope in finding and even rescuing her brother. He knew one or two things which could make her feel better, but at the same time the police in the cyber division would know what he was doing and make a stink over it. Still, it was for the sake of a worried girl's piece of mind...

Realizing he might be looking at some jail time if things went wrong, Tobei sighed and looked to the girl, "Suguha-san...while I can't get your brother out...I think I might be able to let you see him."

Suguha gasped, looking up, "You can?"

Tobei nodded, standing up, "Yes. One of the things we put into SAO was a...I guess you could call it a camera function. Basically it allowed programmers to watch the players interact with the world. I personally thought it was a security function, a human eye on the lookout for criminal players or to record the good scenes for advertising. Now I figure Akihiko made it so he could keep up his god act over SAO."

Gesturing Suguha to follow him, Tobei led the girl to his computer room which was stocked to the nines in top of the line equipment. He had a crazy amount of computing power for a private office and the only ones who had more were companies like Argus who could afford that many. He took a seat and began opening menus, logging onto the internet, and pulling up files and getting access to his Argus accounts. With the lawsuits and the chaos of discovering the death game, Tobei doubted that anyone had the presence of mind to delete his access. Hell, he doubted anyone knew he had even noticed he had quit.

Opening up his Argus Employee Account, he quickly opened up the Sword Art Online access grid and began looking through the commands. They were all still there, but he noticed that a whole bunch of employees were accessing the same files. Tobei figured that several employees in the project had handed over their access to authorities so that_ trusted_ programmers could try to get the people out of the game. Still, no one was using the camera functions. Likely no one wanted to witness an innocent person die in front of them like in some of those horror movies.

"Okay, here it is," Tobei sighed, opening a map of Aincrad's first floor. It looked like a satellite map like the weather service would provide, but there were orange and green dots littering the area, most of them clustering in the major cities."

"What are those?" asked Suguha.

"The players," Tobei answered. "The green ones are regular players, but the orange ones are players who broke the laws by attacking other players outside of a duel. Not surprised there are so many with the panic that probably happened when the Death Game started,"

"So, one of those is my brother?" asked Suguha hopefully.

"Yes, but there aren't as many of them as I…" Tobei trailed off, fearing that some kind of mass slaughter had happened, but then noticed an indicator on the bottom corner which had the numbers 1 and 2 inside squares. "Oh, they got through to the Second Floor. Well that's not bad at all."

"I bet Onii-chan was there," Suguha insisted. "He was one of the Beta Testers or whatever they're called."

"Was he?" Tobei raised an eyebrow. "Then we might have something. Do you know his online name or his email address?"

"I know his address," Suguha nodded, reciting it by heart. She had to send Kirito messages now and then when she couldn't talk to his face. It seemed email was one of the only ways to get real conversation out of him.

"Okay, here we go," Tobei nodded, typing in the address into the player search function. Players who registered into SAO had to fill out a registration form which would allow Argus to send them notices about updates or special quests. If one had any bit of that information, they could find out what that particular player would get up to. So entering the information, it brought up a player profile of a young man who was only a bit older than Suguha. Next to it was a 'live feed' image as if a bird was watching the young man travelling along the rocky path of the Second Floor's terrain. He was dressed in a long black coat with a tunic, pants, and a sword over his shoulder.

"Onii-chan!" Suguha gasped.

"This is him?" asked Tobei.

"That's him!" Suguha nodded. "Is he okay? Where is he? What's he doing?"

"Hold on, hold on, I'll tell you," Tobei sighed. He pulled up a readout of notable exploits the boy had undergone. "Okay, seems like he's on the Second Floor and he was part of the raid group which took down the First Floor Boss. He's completed a bunch of quests, and he's not slowing down. Damn, this kid really knows how to play the game," At the bottom of the list was another notice, one that Tobei was surprised to see. "Oh, so this kid's the one who found my Gaim armor eh?

"Gaim?" Suguha questioned.

"One of my little additions so that the players stand a better chance at survival. Your brother has a SengokuDriver and a Lockseed. Also, he's not the only one it seems."

"Will it really make a difference?"

"A lot have died before the first floor was cleared," he said grimly. "Your brother being in the possession of a SengokuDriver gives him a huge advantage to survive this. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one to end the game."

"Do you think he can do it soon?" Suguha asked hopefully.

"Not soon," Tobei shook his head. "It nearly took a month to clear the first floor even with using my Inves and Kamen Riders. Even if there will be more support now that the game isn't impossible, it'll still take a long time to clear the game. There are one hundred floors in total and each one will have a boss more powerful than anything before, and each one will have it's own special trick that will make it harder to beat them. Your brother has a lot of work cut out for him if he intends to clear the game."

Tobei also didn't mention that he may face some powerful enemies from the other players. Orange players were the kinds of people who would jump other players and kill them before making off with their items. With how SAO worked, people would really die if Player Killers existed. But with desperation and denial no doubt going on, those kinds of people would just be more willing to go to the extremes or think they could do anything they wanted since no one could stop them.

"Oh…" Suguha mumbled.

Tobei scratched his head, "I know this isn't much, but so long as I can keep getting into Argus' systems and SAO, you're welcome to come back and see how he's doing."

Suguha blinked, but then smiled, "Thanks," She wiped her eyes, apparently having been tearing up in the past few moments. "So, you put those Kamen Rider things into the game to help people?"

"Yep," Tobei closed the window and opened up another depicting 3-D images of the Kamen Riders Gaim, Baron, Gridon, and Ryugen. "I was making my own online game using Argus resources that were going into SAO, but when I found the Death Game I figured the players in SAO needed them more."

"Are these the only ones?" asked the teenager, looking at the Gaim armor since she was told her brother had claimed it himself.

"No, I have more," Tobei opened up more suits. One was black and the face was designed like a feudal footsoldier while another was a feminine pink. "I've been making up a lot of designs so that players for my game would have a wide variety to choose from."

"Can you put them in?" asked Suguha, hoping that the more Riders there were the safer her brother and the people in the game would be.

"I could, but part of my problem is that the police are kind of keeping an eye on me and if I do something they may just end up arresting me," Tobei sighed. "I may just end up getting in trouble by accessing Argus to show you what is going on with your brother."

"Oh…" Suguha mumbled, but she remained firm. "That doesn't matter! If you get in trouble I'l...I'll...I'll get my parents to hire some lawyers! I'll petition the judge with all my friends! I'll be witness to what you're doing! I'll take the stand in your defence!" The girl was becoming flushed from being so passionate, but it seemed that she was telling the truth about what she would do to convince the police he was trying to help.

After a moment, he snickered, "Hell, what's so scary about a jail cell? If my suit programs can save lives then who cares where I end up?" Turning back to his computer, he flexed his fingers before starting to type and open more windows. "I custom made my computer so I could work from home just in case something came up. Let's drop some new toys into SAO. Just speak for me at my hearing and we'll call it even."

"You got it!" Suguha smiled.

* * *

**Aincrad - Second Floor: Urbus November 30th 10: 23 AM**

Asuna heaved a sigh as she sat at one of the restaurants that populated Urbus. It was a big city that was situated in the midst of a crater. The scenery was rocky, hilly, and mountainous, which seemed to be the norm for the entire floor as far as she could see. It wasn't a bad town, although the NPCs there seemed to be dressed in slightly warmer clothes and were of a hardier stock since they lived in a rougher region than the NPCs on the first floor.

Unfortunately, that went with the mobs too. They all consisted of ox and bull-like monsters to some variations. They all had a few annoying commonalities, mainly the higher strength, enhanced toughness, and a rapid charge attack. It was much more difficult to fight them than any other monster on the first floor, even the kobolds that were living in the dungeon. It made progressing through the floor more difficult than on the previous floor. Asuna herself had been nearly trampled more than once trying to fight those monsters. She had barely nicked any of the unknown territory of the floor before a fight with a monster forced her to return to Urbus to recover.

Urbus was quickly getting populated. Plenty of the people who were too afraid to explore the first floor and were sticking to the city were eager for a change of scenery. Several were setting up shop so they could sell to the Clearers. Everyone was in a good mood, seeing the Clearers as something akin to heroes instead of a pack of suicidal morons. Asuna just thought they were being fickle, having denounced the Clearers until they began to succeed. She had to deal with people like that enough times back in the real world.

Word spread fast about the Kamen Rider suits. Asuna heard rumors from people moving up from Starting City that whole raid groups were diving into Helheim Forest to try and find the strange NPC that was reported to hand out the Drivers that could change players into Kamen Riders. A lot of the Clearers who were forming parties were also trying to find the Kamen Riders so they could get them to join up and help them clear everything. As far as Asuna knew, all of the Riders vanished to do their own thing after the portal in Urbus. Klein and his friends went off to explore the Second Floor, Kirito and Sinon did the same, and Agil was firmly following a merchant path by selling more Lockseeds to people.

She wondered what Kirito and Sinon were doing now. They had suggested she join a party so she wouldn't be all alone. Despite the fact the Orange Samurai and Green Gunslinger being solo players, Asuna still had them on her friends list. She'd chat with them now and then, but with the adventures they were on, they sometimes could get spotty with replying. Still, at least she knew they were doing fine.

Still, after three days of trying to get out into the Second Floor she was finding herself languishing behind the city walls and watching bored people play Inves Games. She was barely getting any experience from the few monster she managed to kill. Well, it was good experience but with only one or two kills it didn't exactly fill her EXP Bar at a rocket pace. She needed something to help equalize her inexperience with the monsters until she could get her levels up.

"I need more Inves," Asuna sighed, coming to the conclusion. She only had her Momo-chan and he was just too small to compete with the rest of the monsters in Aincrad. Compete in Inves Games yes, but not in the life-or-death battles that Asuna would be finding herself in several times over. Asuna's problem was that she was nearly flat broke. She spent all of her money on weapons, accessories to boost her stats, and clothing to better protect her. Her room and board budget was all she had left and she couldn't compromise that. Lockseeds could get expensive, especially the higher-tier kinds she would need to have battle partners. She'd have to grind for a whole day or more with the monsters below to be able to pay for one of those A-Class Lockseeds.

'_This is so ironic,_' Asuna sighed to herself. Back home she was rolling in money but in Aincrad she had driven herself to bankruptcy. Well, at this point since coming to Aincrad she found that pride had to take second place to other things so she could just ask Kirito or Sinon for a loan and…

"Oh!" Asuna gasped as an idea came to her. Pulling up her messaging system, she listed Kirito and Sinon as the recipients and wrote her message.

_To: Kirito, Sinon_

_From: Asuna_

_Subject: Helheim Forest_

_Hello!_

_I've hit a bit of a slump here on the Second Floor and I can't improve enough to get anywhere. I was hoping that one of you could tell me where a portal to Helheim Forest could be found? I'm hoping to pluck some Lockseeds both for personal use and to raise some funding for even better weapons and armor. Any tips or information about the place would be appreciated._

"There," Asuna nodded, hitting the _send_ button and letting the message fly. It was getting closer to lunchtime so she hoped that Kirito and Sinon were someplace taking a break and could reply quickly. So she closed her menu and went back to the last of the food she had bought for herself. Dire financial straights or not, she wasn't going to let it ruin her appetite!

Swallowing some more of the _Beef Dinner_ she bought, her notification lit up telling her she got a message. Excited, she opened it and began to read.

_To: Asuna_

_From: Kirito_

_Subject: Re: Helheim Forest_

_Well, I guess you're at a high enough level now. I know one portal to Helheim Forest. It's in a clearing inside of the Forest of Beginnings. You can only find it if you go off the beaten path where the wolf mobs show up. I'd say about fifty feet from the path when you're well out of eyesight from the nearby village. You really can't miss it. Be careful though, wild Inves are aggressive and if you have Lockseeds on you they will home in on you to try and take it. Throw Lockseed Fruits to distract them. Also, Sword Skills only do a fraction of the usual damage on them so avoid a fight unless you can't, then just aim for high damage areas to try and maximize what you can._

"Okay," Asuna nodded, filing the information into her mind. She wasn't in the mood to fight wild Inves anyway. She saw that Sinon had replied as well so she opened the message to see what her other friend had to say.

_To: Asuna_

_From: Sinon_

_Subject: Re: Helheim Forest_

_If you want to go to Helheim Forest then you have to be really careful Asuna. The portal I know is hidden inside a rock formation at Origin Lake. It sticks out like a sore thumb. The Inves there aren't all small and loveable like your pet Momo. They are big and have attitude. Don't bring in Lockseeds unless they're in your inventory and not on you anywhere. They can sniff them out and will do anything for them. Sword Skills don't work on them that well either so if it's an Elementary Inves then prepare for a lengthy fight, but anything stronger or more numerous then you're better off just running away. Lockseed Fruits grow all over the place, they're purple bell-shaped with a round fruit in the middle. Just pluck them and they'll turn into Lockseeds after a short time. Oh, NEVER open a Lockseed inside Helheim, it's like one big beacon for all of them according to Klein._

"Okay, that's more informative that Kirito's," Asuna nodded. She knew Lockseeds grew on trees inside of Helheim, but she hadn't known how to recognize them now that she thought about it. She just assumed that they were right there as the metal objects she knew Lockseeds to be. She would have to stock up and make sure that all of her weapons were at their peak durability along with any healing items she could get to make sure she got out of Helheim in case things got crazy.

"Okay, I've got shopping to do!" she nodded. She would have to break out her food budget but hopefully she'd make it up with Lockseeds.

* * *

**Aincrad - First Floor: Origin Lake November 30th 3:30 PM**

Making her shopping run, what little she could get, Asuna teleported to the First Floor and headed out to _Origin Lake_. It wasn't an incredible distance away, but she still felt like she had lost some time in just getting to the lake Still, she managed to reach the lake and like Sinon had said, the pile of boulders stuck out like a sore thumb. Climbing around them, she found the opening that Sinon had hinted at and with a little bit of shuffling, she managed to slip through. A short trip through a tunnel later and she found the zipper opening that would let people into Helheim Forest.

"Here goes nothing," Asuna mumbled to herself. Taking a breath, she stepped through. The air swiftly changed from the musty inside of a tunnel to the slightly wet misty air of Helheim Forest. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but soon she was able to appreciate the bizarre beauty that was Helheim.

"Wow," she admired. Sword Art Online was full of scenic beauty in its own right, but something about Helheim just felt _otherworldly._ The flowers and other small plants felt strange and the fog gave everything an air of mystery. The purple flowers growing over all of the trees were also adding to the feeling of being somewhere unnatural. She couldn't help but wander through the groupings of trees so she could see everything that Helheim Forest could offer in terms of aesthetics.

"Wait...purple flowers," Asuna blinked. The Lockseeds! She was so entranced by Helheim Forest she had almost forgotten about why she had even gone there in the first place. Trotting up to one of the trees covered in the desirable purple flowers, she delicately pulled one off of the vine. She thought it looked rather pretty until it flashed, transforming into a Mature Lockseed. The front was marked with a pink peach, looking downright luminescent in the foggy, murky, air.

"Cute!" Asuna smiled. Oh she was never going to sell this one! Slipping the Peach Lockseed into her inventory, she turned to collect more Lockseeds, letting them transform into their mature forms before placing them in her inventory for safekeeping. "Kirito and Sinon made this place out to be downright dangerous when they came through. It seems pretty quiet if you ask me."

Asuna wasn't quite familiar with popular media, being raised as the daughter of a successful businessman. She was focused more on her education and other means of entertainment with her friends like chatting and a passing interest in video games, which was how she ended up in SAO in the first place. So she didn't know about how she was effectively jinxing herself by making such a statement.

More shocking though was that the jinx she made for herself didn't immediately happen. Instead, Asuna actually began humming a small tune to herself as she plucked several Lockseeds for herself. No Inves seemed to know she was there, no desperate group looking for Lockseeds thought to try and steal from her, and not even some shadowy villain appeared to enact some menacing plan with Asuna accidentally caught in the middle either by accident or design. she just had a peaceful time harvesting the Lockseeds she intended to sell to Agil. Were it the real world, one may assume it was just good luck but in SAO one might have thought Tobei made it that cute girls had an advantage in Helheim Forest.

Up on the Second Floor and in Starting City, Agil, Klein, and Kirito felt like they had been cheated somehow and weren't sure why.

Asuna had yet to meet the mysterious NPC responsible for the Riders' acquisition of their Drivers, although she didn't enter Helheim to meet her. She had come for Lockseeds and as she continued to gather highly demanded items, she heard movement. Stopping her humming, she turned to see what had made the noise while grasping her rapier. Her eyes widened as she spotted a group of adult-sized Elementary Inves in the distance. They were fortunately too preoccupied with eating Lockseed Fruits, but that could change pretty soon once they realized her presence.

"OK, time to go," she said to herself as she turned to leave only to accidentally trip upon a root. "Oof!"

A red Elementary Inves grunted and looked up. It easily spotted Asuna thanks to her white and red clothes before screeching. The remaining three Elementary Inves perked up and likewise saw Asuna. Unfortunately, Asuna had been clutching a Lockseed Fruit as she began to run and it chose that exact moment to transform into a Donguri Lockseed. It caused all four of the Inves to perk up and begin charging wildly, each of them hoping to be the one to get the Lockseed first.

Asuna groaned and shook her head, but quickly got her senses back. Looking back, she saw the charging Inves and gasped. Getting to her feet, she began running through the forest again. While she was running, she quickly found that because of her wandering in admiration of the scenery she had lost where the portal out of Helheim was. Cursing herself, she just picked a direction and ran for her life. The Inves weren't dissuaded as they continued to race after her, intent on devouring the Lockseed she still had clenched in her hand.

The coiled plants slapped at her body as she ran, dodging around several Lockseed Trees as she went. One Elementary Inves she wouldn't mind taking on, but four of them with a resistance to Sword Skills and she knew she would have low chances of winning or even surviving. She knew better than to try anything suicidal now that she had her will to live once again. She would just keep running from the Elementary Inves until she either lost them or found a portal back to Aincrad. She wasn't going to let the monsters kill her!

Diving into undergrowth to try and throw the Inves Warriors off, she scrambled through the branches which smacked her face and body. Pushing herself forward, she burst out of the brush, but a stray branch caught her leg and she collapsed onto the ground, her face sticking into the grass. "Ow…"

"Woah! Hey boys a cutie just landed in our laps!"

Asuna recognized that tone. She had heard it plenty enough. Guys who just wanted to check out and hit on a pretty face. Looking up, she saw a bunch of guys who wore _Bandit Coats_ and seemed to have bandoliers made of vines with Mature Lockseeds hanging from them. She had stumbled onto a party making a raid on Helheim for Lockseeds and possibly for a SengokuDriver of their own. They were guys who seemed to be a little older than her, and pretty much looked like the thugs her brother taught her to avoid.

"Well hello there," one thug grinned, a scruffy-looking boy with a headband. "Looks like you got a little spooked by something out there honey."

"Was it a scary animal? Don't worry, we'll protect you babe!" another thug grinned lecherously, obviously staring at Asuna's bare legs.

"All you have to do to thank us is fork over all of your Lockseeds," the leader, a boy with awful dyed blonde hair snickered. His snicker then turned downright perverted. "Or maybe you can turn off those _Ethics Codes_ and reward us for our generosity a different way."

Asuna scowled at the group of perverted thugs. It was no secret by far that for the most part SAO was populated by guys. There was a very noticeable gender disbalance and since Kayaba Akihiko used his little mirror trick, a bunch of the presumed cute girls turned out to be guys trying to live out secret fantasies of some kind. Add that only a portion of the girls who were real girls weren't in the looks range of 'total nerd' and actually cute and it was plain to see why someone like Asuna being found on her own would be considered a boon to such a group of thugs. As for the _Ethics Codes_, they were the reason why no girl had gotten sexually harassed or worse since the game began. They were a program which banned players from taking part in illicit activities like smoking or sex. Of course, they could be shut off by the player if they needed to do something like smoke but when it came to sexual activities all players involved had to have their codes turned off. In other words, the thugs could make moves on Asuna all they wanted, but if she didn't have her _Ethics Codes_ turned off they couldn't even touch her in such a way without the system stopping them and marking them as an Orange Player.

"Listen!" Asuna frowned, getting up. "We can't stay here! We have to go!"

"Woah, eager to get started huh? Cool by us!"

"No you pervert!" Asuna growled. Did these boys have nothing but sex on the brain? What the heck was wrong with them? "A bunch of Inves are chasing me! We need to run and-!"

That was as far as Asuna got before the four Inves she was trying to warn the raid group about burst through the foliage. They were wild and hungry. One of them spotted the Lockseeds attached to the raid groups' bandoliers and screeched to signal the others. There was food before them, ripe for the taking. All interest in Asuna was dropped as the Inves Warriors charged at the raid group who had way more Lockseeds on them than just the one lower-class one Asuna had in her hand.

A savage fight broke out, the raid party caught completely off guard by the Elementary Inves and were slow to the draw. One or two of them took bad blows on the onset, knocking them down before the Inves tried to get the Lockseeds from their bodies. Swords were drawn and Sword Skills were unleashed, but Asuna observed that the attacks didn't do as much damage as they normally would have done. She grit her teeth as she witnessed the carnage, '_Just like Kirito and Sinon said. Since the Inves weren't originally part of Sword Art Online,our attacks and weapons affect them differently! If we want to win against these numbers, we need something from Helheim to hurt them!_'

"AHHHHHH!"

Asuna looked around, at first thinking that one of the perverted thugs was screaming like a small child, but her horror mounted when she saw that it wasn't a thug screaming in such a way, but an actual small child screaming! He seemed like he was only eleven or so and was running from a Green Elementary Inves but he was being weighed down by an absurd number of packs and other equipment. The thugs were obviously using him as a pack mule while they worked in Helheim, but now that things had gone bad they were ignoring him to save their own hides. It was serving to be a hindrance to the boy since the Green Elementary Inves was easily catching up to him, already anticipating the Lockseeds that the boy had for his team.

"Look out!" She cried, running to the child's aid. Charging up a _Thrust_ with her rapier, she stabbed out and caught the Inves in the shoulder region, making it stumble backwards from the force and angle of the blow. Seeing the monster down for the moment, she turned to the child who was already on the brink of tears from being of terrified by the monster. Asuna was at his side in an instant, "What are you doing out here? This is no place for a child!"

The small boy was unable to speak, managing only to get out stutters and sniffles from it all. Asuna threw a glare at the thugs, some of which had already run away and leaving their comrades to the mercy of the Inves after their Lockseeds. At the moment, she was all for just picking up the child and running for a portal out of Helheim and leaving the jerks to rot. Still, her morals just wouldn't allow her to let people die when she could do something about it. So lifting her sword once again, she charged with the best Sword Skill she had at the attacking Inves Warriors.

"HYAH!" She lashed with another blow, striking a Blue Inves Warrior and knocking it back. It didn't do much damage, but it did knock them away. She charged up her quickest skills one after the other to strike the Warriors back. They didn't do a lot of damage, but the strikes did force the Inves back from their intended targets. As the Elementary Inves fell back, they began recovering and looked to see Asuna standing in front of the remaining down thugs and their child pack mule. Her rapier was poised and ready to strike.

"The rest of you run!" she shouted to the thugs. "Go before you get themselves killed!"

"Don't need to tell us twice!" one of the thugs grunted before he and his remaining friends took off running. Asuna didn't really think any of them would stay. Now she would be able to run off and hopefully get away from the Inves and find a way-!

"Onee-chan!"

Asuna gasped and glanced back, seeing the little pack mule on his knees and gaping openly. Asuna's heart clenched when she saw the child, either too afraid to move or didn't want to leave her behind. Either way, he was going to be a target for the Inves if she tried to run. With how small he was and how much stuff he was loaded down by, he was just waiting to be picked off by an Inves! There was no way she could run now, not without leaving him behind!

"GRAH!"

Asuna's attention was snapped back to her battle when an Inves strike her with a swipe, causing her to stumble and land on her back in a heap. The Donguri Lockseed fell from her hand where a Blue Inves Warrior leaped on it ahead of the others, gobbling it up like a piece of candy. Vines soon covered it and in a flash, the foliage fell away to reveal a Shika Inves standing up with a screech. The bellow caused the other Elementary Inves to run away, afraid of their former comrade.

Asuna groaned, touching the glowing red lines which cut across her torso. It dropped a good portion of her HP. Not incredibly bad, but worrisome just the same. She also didn't have doubts that the Deer Inves was significantly stronger than the Elementary Inves. She'd seen the difference enough times in Inves Games players would play when they were bored. Still, she couldn't leave that boy behind!

"_You will die if you continue this way._"

Asuna perked up, looking for the source of the voice that had spoken to her. The Shika Inves seemed to be stunned by the voice, looking around and hissing as if expecting something to emerge and attack it. Asuna pulled herself up to her knees, unsure why the monster had just suddenly stopped and who had spoken to her. The small boy likewise was confused as to who was speaking.

The bushes, the trees, and even the grass seemed to somehow part before a woman in white entered the clearing. She had blonde hair and eyes which were two different colours, easily catching Asuna's notice. What else she noticed was that she lacked any indication of being a player. That meant she was an NPC. But then the only NPC said to inhabit this forest of Lockseeds was...the mysterious girl supplying players with SengokuDrivers.

"You have been deemed worthy," said the girl as she approached Asuna. She then took the brunette's hand and placed in it a SengokuDriver. "This power is yours. However, once you use it then your fate is sealed and you will be locked in a conflict. You must never falter and fight to the bitter end. Do you possess that resolve?"

Asuna frowned, but nodded, "I maybe didn't at first, but I do now!" Standing up, she pulled the SengokuDriver out of the girl's hand before turning to face the Shika Inves again. Glancing at the premium item, she brought it to her waist and allowed it to latch on. The blank indicator on the side then flashed, creating the side profile of a pink helmet which was smooth but decorated with gold vines framing the face. The visible eye was narrow and feminine with a rainbow color to it. A glimpse of a red stone could also be seen on the forehead as well. It was also decorated behind the profile almost like a folding fan which had vine-like designs cascading over it with a pink light illuminating everything.

Asuna then opened her inventory to the Lockseeds she had collected. She had a nice collection, but most of them were seeds and she knew that fruit-based Lockseeds summoned stronger Inves than the seed-based one. So she felt using a fruit-based Lockseed in a SengokuDriver would give her a stronger suit. Materializing the Lockseed, she hit the button to unlock it.

"**PEACH!**"

A flash of pink light from above created the form of a large metal pink beach which shimmered as if it were polished to perfection or had that natural sheen like Chinese silk. It rested on its top with the narrow bottom pointing in the air with two green leaves near the base.

"Henshin!" Asuna called, snapping the Peach Lockseed into place on _her_ SengokuDriver.

"**LOCK ON!**"

The belt began letting out a sound similar to the one Sinon's used. Asuna then hit the sword switch and cut open the peach. Like other Lockseed, the top half looked like the inside of a peach but the bottom half held a metal chain the likes which Shaolin monks would use. The ends were larger and coloured magenta with the bases being decorated with peach sides.

"**HAI! PEACH ARMS! KURUKURU, WITH PIERCING BEAUTY!**"

The Peach Arms then dropped and landed on Asuna's shoulders, covering her with the protective suit. It was coloured pink and hugged her form, the front and back of her waist sporting a loincloth-like fold of fabric with slits on the sides and short sleeves barely clearing her shoulders. The sides of the cloth was lined in gold and a line of gold came from her neck, vanishing under her right arm. The fabric had a collar, giving the entire fabric suit the image of a Cheongsam. Her biceps and thighs were covered in black fabric while her forearms and hands were covered in pink gloves with gold wrists. Her legs up to her knees were covered with high heel boots which had gold around her ankles and her knees, a pink circle on the centre of the kneecaps.

Inside of the metal peach, Asuna's head was covered with the helmet that her belt depicted. Then a deep pink/red helmet attachment landed on her head, having two peach-like attachments on either side with gold ribbon on the bases and hanging down to her ears. It made her helmet look like she was sporting the Chinese ox horn style of hair. When the attachment was on, the eyes of the helmet turned deep passionate red.

The metal peach itself then snapped into four pieces, unfolding into the protective steel armor. The two sides twisted over her shoulders to follow the curves of her shoulders before the curved up slightly, making them look like a shawl. The back panel folded in half and attached to her back. The front finally folded down and attached to her chest, looking like a rounded pink breastplate for a woman, accenting her curves and gold on the edges. The upper portion of the peach rested on her stomach with gold lines running across it like the straps of bustier. A final splash of pink power completed the change, bringing the chain weapon into the female Rider's hand.

"S-sugoi!" the boy gasped, seeing Asuna's transformation.

Asuna herself looked over her hands, shocked and a little euphoric as she felt the power of the suit running through her. Looking at her hands, a window opened in front of her to declare what she had received.

_You have received Kamen Rider Jotome armor!_

_You have received Peach Arms armor!_

_You have received Momokusari!_

"Pray you chose well, Kamen Rider Jotome," the NPC spoke before she walked into the underbrush once more and vanished. Her vanishing seemed to have brought the Shika Inves out of its funk and it became aggressive towards Jotome and the small child once again. It screeched and charged for the both of them. Jotome reacted quickly, and released all but the end of the chain before she swung wide, letting the weighted end smash into the Inves' face and cause it to stumble.

Jotome marveled as she continued to swing the Momokusari, allowing the momentum to keep going. Her suit was actually like an assist system, telling her how to use her strange weapon! All she had to do was set herself up like a Sword Skill and she could use the chain! Granted she had to follow through with the entire move herself but the system helped her make the right steps to make sure that she didn't end up hurting herself at least.

The Shika Inves growled and charged a second time. Jotome took up the challenge and clasped the Momokusari around the middle and spun on the spot, allowing both weighted ends to spin through the air. She swung over and over, taking swipes at the Shika Inves. The ends struck the monster, causing red pixels to fly through the air as the damage took. Still, the Inves wasn't pleased with being battered with so many little blows.

With a snarl, the monster leaped into the air and dover over the strikes which Jotome was using to try and bring it down. The beast came from above and landed on Jotome, knocking her onto her back with the beast standing above her. The Inves dove down to try and bite her, but Jotome lifted her weapon up, using the chain links to press against the Inves' neck, preventing it from getting closer lest it cut off its own breathing. Thinking quickly, Jotome braced her foot against the Inves' chest before kicking it off. Her space claimed, Jotome hopped to her feet as the Shika Inves reclaimed it's own.

"I'm through playing this game!" Jotome snapped. Spinning the Momokusari again, she swung it wide once again. This time, it struck the Inves and actually wrapped around it before the peach decorations on the base of the end latched onto the other links, keeping them closed. The Shika Inves grunted and began to struggle. Jotome gave a fierce pull on the chain and with the strength the suit afforded her, pulled the Inves at her which she kicked in the face with her high heels, launching it off again. Another pull brought it back for another kick, which launched it off and smashed it into a tree before it dropped to the ground.

The Shika Inves snarled and managed to stand before it gave a sharp tug and freed itself from the Momokusari. Another snarl and it began leaping about the area, bouncing off of the trees like a deer would prance as it ran from predators. Jotome pulled her chain back and attempted to strike the Inves out of the air, but it kept bouncing and hopping, proving to be more agile than she was.A final hop from the beast closed the distance between them before it headbutted her, its anters smashing into her face and knocking her back. A swift kick from its legs sent her skidding backwards across the dirt.

Jotome grunted, her vision blurry for a moment before her senses returned. Absently, like a reflex, she checked her HP bar and was pleasantly surprised to see that despite the hard hits the Inves had only done moderate damage, the kind she'd usually see when she fought a monster that was at her level. The armor's protective abilities would certainly useful when she had to go up against the Inves or other powerful monsters.

"Onee-chan!"

Jotome shook her head a second time before her vision filled with the young boy that had been witnessing the entire fight thus far.

"I'm okay," Jotome smiled under her helmet, patting the boy on the head as she got up. "But you have to get back! This isn't safe for someone like you!"

"But! But!" the boy mumbled.

"Go!" Jotome ordered, pointing to the brush where he could hide. The boy reluctantly obeyed, allowing the pink Rider to focus her attention back on the Inves. She pulled the Momokusari back to her body and a single swing brought momentum back to it. The Inves wasn't impressed and prepared for another lunge.

The pair stood off against one another, both knowing that the other was out to kill them. The silence didn't survive long before the Shika Inves charged with a flying leap once again. This time, Jotome didn't try to retaliate, but dove into a roll underneath the leaping monster. As the Shika Inves came down, Jotome got to her feet before swinging the Momokusari at the beast. She didn't aim for damage, but for a capture. In that, she succeeded as the Momokusari wrapped around the Deer Inves' neck. It tried to grab the chain, but the links weren't finished wrapping and the monster's hand was caught as well. Pinned, the beast choked as it tried to free itself, but Jotome merely tugged to steal some of its breath and keep it docile.

"This ends!" Jotome snapped, hitting the Cutting Blade lever on her belt.

"**HAI!** **PEACH SQUASH!**"

A pulse of pink power began in Jotome's hand before it travelled down the Momokusari and struck the Deer Inves. It flashed before growing into a large peach made of energy which kept the monster pinned. More systems in the suit pointed Asuna to what she had to do and she ran at the beast. After a few steps, she leaped into the air and spun before extending her right foot and coming down on the Inves in an axe kick. Her leg flashed with pink emerge before she struck, slicing the peach in half and the Inves with it before the monster exploded, throwing blue pixels everywhere. Jotome landed in a crouch as a victory window appeared in front of her, highlighting what she got out of the fight.

"Wait a minute!" she gasped, standing up when she saw the results. "That can't be right!"

And thus Asuna learned the curse of using the suits in SAO: the experience drain effect. All the experience she could have received from the fight was reduced to a fraction of what it was supposed to be. That meant she needed to use the suit during emergencies. For quests and grinds that weren't so life-threatening, she would have to forego the suit or she would fall behind in EXP as a consequence.

"Onee-chan! Onee-chan!"

Jotome looked and saw the young boy running towards her, looking quite excited now that all of the danger had passed. He leaped at the pink Rider and hugged her around the waist, causing her to huff from the unexpected impact. Still, as the boy babbled about how cool she was, she pat his head while she tried to get him to calm down.

"Hey, it wasn't a problem," she beamed, although her mask wouldn't let her show it. "Now, let's get out of here before more hungry Inves come looking for us?"

"Okay!" the boy nodded quickly. Taking Jotome's hand, he and the lady Kamen Rider headed away from the clearing for a portal out of Helheim and to somewhere a little safer.

* * *

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment - December 2nd 9:45 AM**

Tobei sighed as he took his cup of coffee, reading over results of the day to day activities of the players in SAO. Some players had died, but the number of fatalities had diminished dramatically. So far 1500 people had died. Tobei felt each one and he could only hope his armors and his Inves managed to help keep the number as low as it was.

Closing the map screen, he opened up his profile pictures on the Kamen Riders he had managed to get into the game. He was surprised that Jotome had been claimed so quickly after he had inserted it into the game but he was happy for it. Kurokage hadn't been claimed yet and he had just inserted Sakyubasu and Kerubimu the previous night so he expected no one to have found them yet.

Although plenty of players dove headfirst into the Helheim Forest, Tobei had programmed a certain trick into the NPC which would hand out SengokuDrivers. Because SAO had psychological observation programs, Tobei tapped his NPC activation parameters to them. The NPC would observe the players and when one of them would show qualities of a person who wanted to protect the players, beat the game, or risk themselves to save the lives of others she would appear and give them a driver. Which one they received depended on which Lockseeds they had. If they had a Lockseed corresponding to a specific suit then they'd get the Driver. If they didn't, the NPC wouldn't give them one. Tobei may have wanted to give the players what they needed to survive, but he wasn't going to hand them out to just anyone and everyone. He needed to know that the players would use them to get everyone out of the damn death trap.

He had to admit, getting the recording of the Riders fighting Illfang was downright awesome. If not for the fact someone died during the fight Tobei would have watched it over and over again for pure fun instead of trying to see how he could make the suits better and possibly look for suitable candidates to use them.

*KNOCK! KNOCK!*

Tobei sighed as he heard the knock on his door. He could already guess who it may have been since he had been expecting it for a few days since Suguha convinced him to keep trying to use his Inves and Riders to help the other players. The police had to have noticed if they had their cyber crimes division going over everything to try and help the players, if not the government's best computer experts doing the same thing. Tobei hadn't exactly been subtle when he applied more changes to Helheim Forest.

Resigning himself, Tobei got up and walked to meet his fate at the door.

* * *

**Aincrad - Second Floor: Urbus December 2nd**

"Okay! Ichi, Nii, San! Let's go!"

In the centre plaza of Urbus, an impromptu show had begun. On a Performer's Mat were three Elementary Inves, each of a different colour, who were doing a dance routine of all things before the red and green Inves moved next to each other with the blue one hopping onto the shoulders of his comrades. All three lifted their arms in victory before leaping into the air, rolling into balls, and landing with squeaks on the mat.

The crowd instantly at it up, clapping with cheers and calls for more. One person stood at the side, lapping up the praise with a smile and a grin as she received a notice that she had been given Col in small amounts from various different players. The receiver was in fact a small girl who couldn't have been older than thirteen, too young to be the average player of Sword Art Online. Still, she was there.

She stood of average build and hadn't quite developed her womanly attributes as of yet. She had brown hair tied into a pair of ponytails with red ribbon and had brown eyes with sparkled with enthusiasm and energy. She wore a red jacket with a simple protective breastplate and black pants with brown boots. All she wore were cheap wares which anyone could get and only offered a moderate amount of protection.

Her name was Ayano Keiko A.K.A. Silica and she was quickly becoming known as the Inves Tamer among her audience members.

Silica was one of the many younger players who had become trapped in SAO after going online. Although she had some idea of how to actually play, which was more than many of the younger players, she wasn't old enough to be taken seriously by the older players who were forming parties and trying to clear the game. So all of her initial attempts to form up in parties were met with refusal or outright mocking.

So Silica was ushered to the church in Starting City where all of the younger players were collected to be cared for by a woman named Sasha. She was nice, and Silica wouldn't say a bad word against her but for a new teenager like Silica surrounded by younger kids the church was hardly the place she wanted to be. For at least a little while, she and some of the other older kids would party up and go grind the mobs to bring in income for Sasha to use for supplies and other things the kids would need while they were trapped in SAO. It was monotonous though, and Silica wanted to explore more of Aincrad and do something about their situation so they could all get out and go back to their families. Silica herself deeply missed her parents and her pet cat Pina.

She saw her opportunity in the Lockseeds and the Inves they summoned. The kids took to them like candy, most of them having been avid Pokemon players and saw a chance to do the same with the Inves. Silica on the other hand saw it as her chance to prove that she could be useful in a Party even if she was on the younger side of all the players.

So she pooled her money together and bought three Lockseeds, all three of them being Himawari Lockseeds and she summoned her Inves. She named them Ichi (Red), Nii (Blue), and San (Green) and immediately began to train them. Since they were small, they didn't have much combat potential in helping out against mobs or other things but Silica wanted to show that she had skills in taming Inves. So she trained her three partners in performances and dances she thought up before setting out into the city and showing off her routines. She managed to make some decent money on her shows, but so far no one seemed interested in partying up with her for any exciting adventures.

"Thank you, thank you!" Silica smiled with a bow, her three Inves doing the same. "You've all been a wonderful audience! Please come back this afternoon for another exciting show of Silica the Inves Tamer!"

The crowd dispersed, some of them giving Col to Silica for her Inves' performance. One of them asked to marry her, but she quickly turned him down. She was thirteen for crying out loud! Once the crowd was finished and she collected her donations, she gave each of her Inves a pat on the head before sending them back to Helheim Forest.

"Whew! Time for lunch!" Silica smiled to herself.

Silica moved to the shopping district of Urbus where players and NPCs alike were promoting their wares and trying to make some money. She passed by one particular stall which sold clothes and there she saw a long red jacket with gold decorations on it hanging, waiting to be plucked. Silica tapped it with long familiarity and saw how much the item cost. Well outside the cash she had on her at the moment. She couldn't even afford the dagger which was on sale next to the jacket.

"Mnnn…" the small girl mumbled but then heaved a sigh before moving on. She quickly found one of the local restaurants and sat herself down. An NPC waitress came and took her order before leaving to get it prepared. If there was one thing that Silica didn't like about SAO, it was how cooking by NPC took as long as it normally would in the real world. Still, her meal came soon enough and after paying for it, she happily began chomping down on her meat and potatoes.

"I wonder if its this yummy in the real world," she wondered to herself as she ate.

"Oh man! We're going to be rolling in the dough!"

Silica blinked and glanced over as she popped some small potatoes into her mouth. Over at another table were a group of older players who seemed to be as thick as thieves, leaning into each other. It was hard to see from her angle, but Silica was sure that she could see a small pile of Lockseeds worth a ridiculous amount of Col if the bright colors she spotted were any indication.

"Yeah We'll be able to outdo that gaijin on the first floor and corner the market on Lockseeds for ourselves! We've got our own private portal to Helheim!"

Silica blinked and were it not her mouth filled with potatoes, she would have gasped. She then remembered herself and tried to look like she hadn't just overheard some of the biggest news to hit the Second Floor since it was actually opened. She didn't want to ruin the chance for gossip or being able to profit off of something.

"Shhh!" hissed another member of the group. "You want to blow this for us! We got lucky when we found it and if someone knows where to look we could end up losing the edge!"

"Right, right," the other member sighed. "But who would have guessed that a portal to Helheim is under the city in that Worm Tunnel Dungeon? We went for a quest and we got something way better in the end!"

"Yeah, but we got lucky," reminded the leader. "That portal's in a secret room behind the serpent bones room and we wouldn't have found it if Needles hadn't tripped and fallen into the thing's mouth."

"You guys could have helped me instead of laughing at me so much," said member grumbled.

"Eh, you got us a personal portal to Helheim so we're all going to get very rich and with our own army of Inves to back us up in anything we do!" the leader grinned. "I'd like to see those guys on the first floor stop us then!"

The group cheered and celebrated with drinks as Silica took in what she had heard. As far as she knew, portals to Helheim Forest were really hard to find and only a few people knew where they were even on the First Floor. Even among the people who knew where they were, only a small group would really try to get in so they could get more Lockseeds. It was supposed to be really dangerous and the wild Inves were supposedly nearly immune to Sword Skills. That particular point was moot to Silica since she didn't know many Sword Skills in the first place but the point remained the same.

Lots of the kids back at the church loved to play Inves Games or raised their Inves like beloved pets. However, Lockseeds were hard to come by with Sasha's budget and sometimes it was tough to get money even for food or clothes because of how the mobs were claimed by players wanting to advance. Being able to go to Helheim and get Lockseeds to sell would be huge for the kids, or even giving some as gifts for the kids who don't have Inves would make a difference.

Silica knew what she had to do.

Wolfing down the rest of her meal, she took off running for the edge of the city. She actually knew an entrance to the Worm Tunnel. Everyone knew of an entrance since it was one of the first available quests on the Second Floor and the NPCs made sure everyone knew it. Not many people took advantage of it since no one wanted to risk it until they got to a higher level to match the other monsters on the floor, which Silica heard were pretty tough compared to the ones on the First Floor.

Equipping one of her dagger, Silica emerged to one of the tunnels leading to the dungeon which burrowed into the crater lining of the city. It was roped off and had NPC guards watching it. They wouldn't do anything unless someone got to it unarmed or were an orange player. So she strode past the guards without an issue and began hopping down the stairs into the Worm Tunnel. Landing at the bottom, she saw the main room lit up with torches and both connecting hallways well-lit, meaning that they had been explored already.

"Okay, those guys went to a snake bone or something so they already explored it," Silica reasoned to herself. "That means that any traps or monsters would already be taken care of by now...I hope."

Steeling herself, Silica chose a hallway and began to explore the dungeon. She took care to avoid any unlit hallways, meaning that they had been unexplored and could still hold traps or monsters just waiting to jump a player. She had to keep checking her map so she didn't get too lost, thanking the fact that her personal map of the area updated with every spot she visited so she knew where she had been. Once or twice she had to fight some Giant Bats but her level was high enough to ensure she managed to get away the winner. One time she did spot some kind of giant worm lounging in one room and she had to find a way around without getting its attention. Thankfully her small stature allowed her a higher stealth skill since she was lighter and smaller, thus harder to see and hear so long as she was careful.

Eventually Silica found the room she was looking for. It was a big room with the far end having some kind of fossilized giant snake stuck in the wall with the head sticking out and with the mouth wide open. Some of the rocks on the ground made a shifty path to the mouth, but it looked so rough and uneven it could be mistaken as simply part of the scenery.

"Okay. Here goes!" Silica hyped herself up before crossing the room and beginning to climb up the large rocks. It took time and effort since she wasn't as big as the usual players that would enter the dungeon themselves and she was on her own. Still, with a bit of creative climbing and a bit of luck Silica managed to pull herself up to the mouth of the fossilized snake. The bottom jaw was solid and now that she was in front of the jaw, she could see a tunnel at the far back which no one would be able to see unless they climbed up to the snake in the first place.

Despite shivers she got at seeing the jaws of the snake looming over her, Silica continued. Walking down the skull's throat she saw the tunnel yawn into a sort of slide. With no other recourse, Silica hopped onto the smooth rock and began her slide down the tunnel. She couldn't help but whoop with excitement as she did so, laughing as she made wide corners and tight turns. All too soon, the ride ended when ilica crashed into a pile of sand at the bottom of her ride.

"Ow," she mumbled between coughs. Patting the sand off of her clothes, she stood up to see where she landed. The room was lit up, meaning that it had been explored and some pots were in the corners of the room which could hide minor items. At the far end of the room where perhaps a treasure chest would be found was instead a wide open zipper which opened up into a misty forest.

"Yes!" Silica cheered. "I found it! Those guys were right!" Laughing, she dashed to the portal and easily stepped through into Helheim Forest. "Oh wow!" As young as she was, she could still get distracted by cute and beautiful thing even in the middle of a death game like SAO. She was so entranced, she didn't snap out of it until a bird's cry made her gasp.

"Oh, right! Lockseeds, Lockseeds, where are the Lockseeds?" Silica furiously reminded herself as she began looking around for the mysterious items. Approaching one of the trees, she took notice of the purple fruits. Again thinking they were pretty, she lifted one up to try and sniff it only for the stem to break and the flower to fall into her hand. "Ah, oh no!"

Silica fretted over the flower she feared she ruined, a habit from when her mother scolded her for crushing one of the flowers in her garden by accident. She even tried to attach the flower back to the tree, but with obviously no success. After several moments of that, the flower suddenly flashed, much to Silica's shock, and when it died down she was even further shocked to see a new Lockseed in her hands. It was just like the Himawari Lockseeds she had in her inventory, but the front was marked with a pair of cherries with their green stems connected and a leaf on top.

"No way…" she gasped in surprise. "You mean...these flowers...are all Lockseeds?"

She looked around rapidly before plucking another flower. After a few moments, it transformed and became a Pineapple Lockseed, "Oh wow!"

Seeing her initial guess as correct, Silica began happily plucking as many flowers as she could get her hands on. Sometimes she'd wait just to see what kind she had gotten since seeing the change itself was rather fun in her opinion. A lot of the ones she found were seed-based, but that was more than good enough since lots of the kids at the church used seed-based Lockseeds and she didn't want a bunch of the kids to start pushing around the others just because they had a better Lockseed than the others.

Soon her inventory was full, with little space left for anything else, bringing a smile to her face "There we go." The amount of Lockseeds she had would be more than enough to bring some relief for the other kids at the church. "These will make a lot of people happy."

The thirteen-year old was brought out of her happy thoughts by the sounds of branches breaking. Looking around, she tried to see what was making the noise. For all the good things that Helheim Forest brought, she had heard that it was a pretty dangerous place that no one should mess with by themselves. She was taking a huge risk by being there by herself after all. To that end, she decided that it was time she leave before one of the wild Inves who weren't so inclined to be friendly with her

She panted slightly as she ran in the direction she was sure that she had come from. All of Helheim looked the same so she was a little unsure if she was heading in the right direction.

"Come on, come on, come on," Silica murmured to herself. "Where did that portal go?"

"Hey! Who are you?"

Silica flinched and turned to see several players walking towards her through the trees. She easily recognized them as the group which had been in the restaurant. None of them looked particularly pleased at the sight of her.

"Ulp!" Silica gulped.

"And just how the heck did you get here?" asked the leader of the group, frowning at her.

"I...I…" Silica sputtered, backing up as they advanced on her. "...Came through a portal?"

"She used _our_ portal!" accused another of the group. "She's taking _our_ Lockseeds!"

"I am not!" Silica snapped back. "It's your guys' fault for talking so loud about it and...oops."

"So you were overhearing us," the leader of the group hissed. "Well, we can't have that. Not when we've got claim to some of the strongest items in SAO." Reaching into his jacket, he brought out a Motsubokkuri Lockseed before unlocking it and throwing it aside. The group became tense and began backing away, much to Silica's confusion.

She got her answer when a bunch of Elementary Inves began leaping into the area, snarling and drooling as they dashed for them and the Lockseed which was lying on the ground. The group of older players were already running, leaving Silica alone with the approaching Inves. The young girl screamed and ran away from the clearing, leaving a few of the Inves to fight over which of them got the opened Lockseed. The remaining three Inves, rather than brawl over the one piece of food began to chase after Silica for the Cherry Lockseed she had in one of her pockets

"Ahhhhh!" she creamed, dashing away from the trio of Inves. She didn't really pay attention to her surroundings so she had no real idea where she had gone just yet. Her mind was more focused on just getting away from the three wild Inves intent on killing her for food. The scenery passed like a blur, Silica only looking ahead to avoid running into something while the Inves kept their eyes on her. They were hungry and she was afraid, causing both sides to cast aside small details like where they were or what was around them.

Silica dashed into a small clearing, finding a lagoon with a babbling spring in the centre of it all. Panting, she rested her hands on her knees and tried to get her breath back. Looking up, she didn't see any of the Inves Warriors following her. "Did I lose them?"

"For now."

"Ahh!" Silica screamed, falling on her butt. Looking around, she saw near the back of the spring sitting on some of the stack of rocks was a girl in white with blonde hair. Her eyes were two different colours which caused Silica to stare at her, that and be slightly envious of how pretty she was.

"Your fate stands at a crossroads, and it shall be your choice which way you shall go," the girl spoke.

"Huh?" Silica blinked, confused.

The girl didn't reply as she stood up and approached Silica. Reaching behind her back, she produced a black belt buckle with an indentation in the middle and a sword on the side. When she was close enough, she held it out for Silica.

"For me?" asked the girl. The NPC girl nodded and Silica took the item for herself.

_You have received a SengokuDriver!_

"Owah!" Silica gasped. She knew what the item was! It was one of those super-rare items that could only be found in Helheim Forest! Wearing one allowed people to fight off strong Inves and use Lockseeds as weapons! She never thought that she would have been able to get one for herself!

Wait… "Um...how do I use it?"

Her notice screen blinked out and brought up a new window which offered an explanation to how to use the SengokuDriver which had been given to her. As distracted as she was by reading the description, she didn't notice the girl walking away from the spring and vanishing into the forest. Scrolling to the bottom of the description, she did take notice when the three Elementary Inves managed to track her down and begin to approach.

"Ack!" Silica cried out, almost falling into the water as she was surprised by the trio. Managing to reclaim her balance, she faced off against the three Inves Warriors. Having the secret weapon of Helheim did wonders for her confidence and she wasn't going to let the three monsters terrorize her anymore. "Okay! Time to take you guys down!"

She lifted the SengokuDriver up and placed it at her waist. The yellow belt wrapped around her and secured into place, even if it looked a little oversized on her. The blank panel on the left side lit up with a round moon with traditional cloud designs on it. The helmet at the forefront of the panel had a semicircle visor which was rainbow coloured, but the grow was pointed in the centre with the deep forest green helmet with a blue hexagonal stone in the centre. The mouthplate was brown with silver X's on the front, like a collar closed up around the wearer's mouth. When the belt was secured, Silica lifted the closest Lockseed she had and opened it.

"**CHERRY!**"

A green/red flash appeared above Silica's head which formed into a metal pair of cherries connected with green stems and a green lead on top. When it appeared, Silica slapped the Lockseed into place into the centre and locked it into place.

"**LOCK ON!**"

The belt began to let off a war trumpet noise as the Cherry Arms began to lower slowly, waiting for the command to come down. An order Silica provided by pressing the sword-like handle and chopped open the Cherry Lockseed, the top half looking like the inside cherries while the bottom half had inside of it a green and brown crossbow with a cherry-tipped arrow loaded into it.

"**COME ON! CHERRY ARMS! LOCK AND LOADED, ROLL OUT!**"

The Cherry Arms landed on Silica's head, and the suit formed around her but her body swiftly changed to that of someone more mature, who the suit was able to fit better than before. The body of her suit was deep green with the collar being silver. The shoulders were also green with rectangular ends to the sleeves and silver biceps. Her arm guards and gloves were brown, looking like leather gloves. Around her waist was the SengokuDriver and below it ended her top which was like a tunic and had rectangular ends. Her thighs were covered in silver fabric and her legs from the knees and below were protected by brown boots with green accents on the feet, calves, and knees to blend in with the forest scenery. The Cherry Arms then flashed and began disassembling. The front of the cherries folded onto her chest, fitting with her new physique. The right side of the Cherry Arms twisted around to cover her shoulder perfectly while the back sections folded onto her back. Lastly, the stems folded under the leaf as it landed on her left shoulder, forming a flat shoulder plate. Her head was concealed by the helmet from the belt, but the Arms gave it a red hood which covered a portion of her helmet and concealed part of the hexagonal gem, making it thinner and her eyes a bright red. A flash caused the crossbow in her Lockseed to appear on her arm.

"Woah!" Silica gasped as a sense of vertigo overcame her, being in a suddenly taller and curvier body. Glancing down at herself, she almost squealed in glee, "I have boobs!"

Her moment of elation was interrupted when a notice window appeared in front of her.

_ You have received Kamen Rider Kerubimu armor!_

_You have received Cherry Arms armor!_

_You have received CherryBolter!_

"Cool!" the newly dubbed Kerubimu grinned in delight. Her attention then turned to the three approaching Elementary Inves who weren't intimidated by her in the process. So she decided to put her new suit through its paces. Bracing herself, she took aim at the Inves with her CherryBolter and began firing the arrows. Her aim was true as they flew, smashing into each of the Inves before exploding and knocking the monsters back.

Stopping her assault, Kerubimu giggled and clapped her hands at seeing the results, "Awesome! This is so easy now!"

The Inves were far from pleased by the resistance and charged directly at the girl. Kerubimu reacted quickly and hopped out of the way of an attack and kicked at the Inves, knocking it aside before she ducked under another attack. Crawling away, she got to her feet and landed an uppercut to the chin of the Inves who came for a third strike. As it stumbled back, she fired several arrows into its chest, the explosions sending it sailing back into a Lockseed Tree. She then quickly spun around and fired at the remaining two Inves, blowing both back from the strikes.

That was when the third Invescame up from behind and struck Kerubimu across the back. She yelped from the trike and some of her HP dropped in front of her eyes. She twisted around and slugged the Inves, but the distraction allowed the other two Inves to recover themselves and charge for her once again.

"Back off!" Kerubimu snapped, shooting at the two. However, still being wobbly from the strike compromised her aim and the arrows exploded behind the Inves. It caused them to stumble slightly, but they kept the charge. The female Rider ducked under a blow of the first Inves and slugged the second before dodging around them and trying to get some space between herself and the trio. Stumbling over some of the rocks, she almost lost her footing but despite having her height changing somewhat dramatically she had a good handle on her balance. Spinning around, she saw the Inves coming at her.

"Well…let's try this!" Kerubimu mumbled, hitting the sword handle on her Driver.

"**COME ON! CHERRY SQUASH!**"

Kerubimu took aim at the Inves as the tip of her arrow began to glow, creating a large energy cherry at the end. Taking aim, she took the shot and send an oversized sphere of energy at the three. The arrow struck and the cherry grew to encompass all three of them before exploding with sprays of red energy and likewise causing the three Inves to explode and end the fight in one fell swoop.

"Yes!" Kerubimu cheered, hopping up and down. "I did it! I did it!" So deep in her celebration, she didn't take the time to see the victory screen and the fact that she only received a fraction of the EXP that she should have for fighting off three difficult monsters like the Inves. Looking herself over once again, she couldn't help but giggle about her advanced body all over again, "Oh man, everyone is going to think this is so cool! The church kids are going to be so jealous!"

Her next performance was going to be killer!

* * *

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment December 2nd 9: 30 PM**

'_How...did this happen?_' Tobei asked himself.

When that fateful knock came to his door, he had been _expecting_ it to be the police there to haul him in for accessing SAO like he did. He was _expecting_ to be grilled by interrogators all over again about what he had been up to. He had been _expecting_ to be thrown in a jail cell for a day or two before being brought up on some charges and then being scolded by his lawyer for doing something so stupid.

Yet what he was _expecting_ was a far cry from what actually _happened_.

What had _happened_ was a group of teenage girls had invaded his apartment. They were lead by Suguha and apparently they were all related to people who were playing SAO. They all wanted to see how their cousins, brothers, or sisters were doing. As he accessed Sword Art Online once again, he kept bringing up files on his Kamen Riders and who had the systems. Suguha seemed especially proud that her brother had been the first and was held in high regard according to the forums the players created. Several of the girls were tech enthusiasts and asked all sorts of questions about the construction of SAO and how it was put together.

They had insisted on seeing the fight with the first floor boss and Tobei had to oblige them. He did edit out the scene where that one blue fellow got killed. Suguha began cheering loudly along with her friends as they saw that Kirito boy and then the other Riders take up the fight against Illfang after the Boss proved to have been changed from the Beta Test. Suguha was of course the most vocal out of all of them since it had been her brother who lead the charge.

One of the girls had brought her laptop and asked for a copy of the fight so she could show other who were worried about their loved ones in SAO. The idea was to show them that the players were progressing and weren't just waddling around waiting to be rescued. They were surviving and trying to get everyone out of the game.

He didn't want to, but that puppy dog eye trick those girls knew made his will crumble completely.

So at the moment he was watching his his guests gush over how cool the male Riders were and how good-looking they were, even the one foreign fellow. They even seemed to think the one female Rider was someone to be looked up to.

'_Teenagers,_' Tobei thought, rolling his eyes as the girls continued to gush over the playback of the Boss fight.

* * *

**Aincrad - Second Floor: Urbus December 2nd 9:45 PM**

Eyes followed her wherever she went and she knew it. Her breasts bounced with every step she took and she knew it. Her hips swayed sensuously and of course she knew it. She was a walking wet dream to the people of SAO and she damn well know it.

Rosalia was sexy and she of course knew it.

Rosalia was a woman in her twenties with red hair she kept in a messy bun at the back with a fringe covering her right eye on the front. She had clear, soft skin, sensuous lips, and smoky eyes. Her figure was a perfect hourglass and she had nicely sized boobs and hips perfect for getting a man's attention. She knew her weapons and the nerds and lonely men of SAO never knew what hit them.

Rosalia wasn't much of a gamer. Living in Tokyo she couldn't help but dabble in an arcade game now and then, but she was usually more focused on her next night of partying and getting a hot guy to spend the night with. With her kind of looks, she was used to getting absolutely anything she wanted and she wanted to keep the gravy train rolling. She was still in her early twenties, plenty of time to find a sugar daddy before she had to settle down with some rich old guy looking for a trophy wife. So she was just drifting along and having fun while her parents thought she was working a respectable job as a secretary when in fact she was a hair's breadth away from being fired if she hadn't slept with her supervisor. That woman wasn't half bad to be honest and Rosalia had to consider giving her a spin again.

Being between boyfriends, Rosalia had lifted a copy of Sword Art Online and a NerveGear from her ex since their breakup hadn't exactly been pleasant. She caught him cheating and even if she was doing the same she had to maintain the image of a jilted lover. Curious about what all the nerds in her workplace were going on about, she plugged in and decided to see what the big deal was. Then came the revelation that they were all trapped in the game and couldn't get out until someone got to the top floor and beat the last boss. She wasn't one hundred percent sure if all that Death Game stuff was true, but she wasn't about to put her perfect ass on the line to try and save a bunch of other geeks and nerds.

When the Mirrors went out, it was more of a boon to Rosalia than anything else. It reconfigured her avatar to look the way she really did, which was more of a bonus since her avatar was only so-so in looks. Add the fact that a big portion of the supposed females in the game were actually weirdo men with fetishes, or geeky girls, a woman of her looks and figure was sitting on a gold mine. With almost every male there being some kind of geek or desperate man, she was virtually unrivaled.

So Rosalia got to work. She may not have been book smart like the geeks, but she knew social nature as well as sexuality. She busted her ass to get her sewing and similar skills up and for show got her own battle skills on the rise. Once they were high enough, she was able to modify clothing into forms much more suited for her taste and showed off a whole lot of what she had to offer any guy who had the guts to talk to her.

She was currently donned in a single dress which she had modified to have slits up the sides and was painted red with black accents to go with her hair. The cleavage was barred to all and the sleeves were black and clung tightly to her arms. Her legs had silk stockings covering them, a material she conned out of a guy who beat some spider quest, and she even managed to find a stall with make-up so she could doll up her face perfectly. Just to show she fit in with the geeks, she carried a simple spear with her. Normally she wasn't able to make such sexy clothes, but once she turned off the ethics protocols she had a full wardrobe of sexy clothes she could make.

"Hm," she pouted sensuously, standing at a crossroads and planting a hand on her hip. She took care to make her boobs jiggle just so any potential marks would notice her. "Now where can a girl get a drink around here?"

Plenty of guys looked, but being geeks they didn't have the guts to try and approach her. She shrugged, their loss. She continued on to one of the local watering holes where someone set up shop and stepped inside. Things were in full swing and plenty of guys were there getting drunk, or whatever came close to it in SAO. Walking through the door, all eyes turned to her and she couldn't help but smirk slightly as she moved to approach the bar. The bartender knew her and she could see the pity in his eyes for whatever poor sap she would go home with that night.

"My usual," she purred, manifesting some Col to pay, one of the few things she herself paid for.

"Just be gentle with the suckers tonight," the bartender, a player, replied. "Most of them are just kids."

"Oh I don't bite unless asked to," Rosalia smiled.

Receiving her drink, Rosalia left to mingle with the other players at the bar and see which one of them would be her mark for the night. Plenty of tough burly-looking guys were there who were obviously Clearers, but the not-so obvious Clearers were fellows wearing better-looking armor, better weapons, and all-around looked better dressed. Of course, hooking up with the Clearers could be tricky since she would have to sell herself to more than one person and if one saw through her then they would all shoot her down. Sometimes the risk could be worth it since they had premium items which could mean she would live longer if they were in her hands.

Marking which of the men in the room were Clearers, she continued her rounds to see if there was anything of interest that night. Some of the men made passes at her, but she usually brushed them off since they were drunk or didn't have anything of interest to her. She kept her eye on the prize at all times and that meant weapons, items, and Col which would be the key to survival.

"Wow! I can't believe you found a real SengokuDriver!"

"I know! That NPC just came out of nowhere and gave it to me! Talk about lucky!"

Rosalia stiffened as she heard that word. Ever since the Second Floor opened up, players, had been talking about Kamen Riders and all of the items that they had at their beck and call. Lockseeds were the big ticket items and Rosalia even had one of her own, a Lemon Lockseed she plucked during a short trip to Helheim Forests which she quickly ended when Inves showed up, ditching her party in the process. She hadn't heard from them since.

If there was an item more sought after than Lockseeds, it was SengokuDrivers. They were what allowed players to down a powerful suit of armor which boosted all of their stats and gave them weapons which normally weren't allowed or used in SAO. In that particular case, anyone who had a Driver could breeze through the ranks and not have to risk their necks in anything short of a boss fight. That or they could end up selling a SengokuDriver to the Clearers for a ridiculous amount of cash.

'_Jackpot!_' the seductress thought giddily to herself.

Looking for the one who had spoken, Rosalia noticed a group of players sitting at a table. They looked a little shabby, meaning that they were likely dungeon crawlers or something to that extent. They certainly weren't Clearers which would make her job easier. They also looked like teenagers and they were all boys, giving her a distinct edge over them all. Hormones made the job ever so much easier. Still, how to best integrate herself? They'd never believe a hot woman would just want to get to know a bunch of nerds like them. Maybe if she laid on the charm of a different sort.

Gulping down her drink, she tossed the glass away before adjusting her step to look loopy and pretended to stumble a little. Approaching the table of the group, she pretended to trip and stumbled onto the one who had the item she was looking for. She timed her landing so that her breasts landed first, pillowing on the young man's neck.

"Oops! Whoopsie!" Rosalia giggled drunkenly. "Sorry about that!"

The group of boys all blushed and stared at her, especially the young man whose head was just cushioned between her pride and joy as she stood up. She did take care to lean over so her cleavage was on full display. She almost giggled when she saw one of the teens break out into a bloody nose.

"Ah...ah...It's okay…" the young man gulped. "N-no harm done!"

"Oooh, you're so nice!" Rosalia giggled again. Still playing drunk, she leaned in closer to act as if she was trying to see him clearly. "Heeeeeey, you're pretty darn cute! Wanna buy me a drink? I can make it worth your while!"

The young man blushed brightly as another of his comrades burst into a nosebleed. "Habba habba habba!"

"Oh you! Hubba bubba? That's the oldest line ever!" Rosalia tittered, secretly amused by how she was blowing the geek's mind and she hadn't even done anything yet. Seeing her chance, she hopped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're just lucky I like classics boy! Now let's open a tab!"

He broke into a nosebleed.

Perfect!

* * *

**Aincrad - Second Floor: Urbus December 2nd 11:56 PM**

Rosalia yawned as she stood in the room she and her mark rented for the night, fixing her hair in the mirror. It was pitch black outside with little moonlight to offer any light through the window. Her mark was sound asleep and she had just gotten dressed after the few hours of passion that they had gone through. Although the game allowed clothes to be donned perfectly, she just had to adjust her breasts to make sure they were comfortable out of habit.

She played her game perfectly and lured her mark into a room where he shut down his ethics protocols and they had their wicked way with each other. Well, she had to put more effort into it since he was half-wasted, but oh so willing. She wanted to at least claim she provided something in return for what she was about to do.

"Perfect," she smiled, seeing her lipstick back to normal.

Turning to her mark, she silently approached his bed and lifted up his hand. After making sure he wasn't going to wake up, she pointed out his index finger and poked it into the air a certain distance from his face near what she hoped was the corner of his vision. Her guess proved true as a menu opened up in front of him. Using his hand, Rosalia manipulated the menu until it was scrolling his inventory and landed on the item she was looking for: _SengokuDriver_

Smirking, Rosalia hit the _Materialize_ command, allowing the belt to appear in a small flash. She caught it before it could fall onto his chest and gently sat down his hand. Her task complete, she sauntered out of the room and down the hall towards the exit of the inn where she could make her silent getaway. Stepping out into the cool midnight air, she gave herself a stretch and a pat on the back for a job well-done.

"Like taking candy from a baby," she grinned, walking towards the town square. She lifted the SengokuDriver once again, "Now what to do with you? Do I keep you and make sure I'm all but invincible or do I sell you and live in the lap of luxury? Decisions, decisions."

"Hey! You slut!"

Rosalia blinked and looked over her shoulder and blanched slightly, "Oh crap." Bursting from the inn were the remaining members of her target's party and all of them looked rather pissed. They even had their weapons drawn on her. "Um, yes?"

"Don't play innocent you slut!" one member shouted. "I saw you leaving with Jonesy's SengokuDriver!"

"Tsk!" Rosalia frowned. What a slip up to make just when she got likely one of the best items in the game! She should have just dropped it into her inventory before leaving. Sighing, she dropped her ditzy seduction persona and took her normal one. "So you got me. Now what are you going to do about it? You can't seriously be thinking to hit a girl are you?"

"Damn straight we are!" yelled one member, lifting a mace.

Now Rosalia was getting nervous, knowing if they attacked her she would go down hard and fast. Still, she had some cards left to play, "Now, now. You know about AREA. The only way you could hurt me is if you challenge me to a duel and there's no way I'd ever accept."

"Oh, we don't have to challenge you!" snickered the leader of the group. As one, he and the others all revealed Lockseeds they had in their hands, making Rosalia pale. They unlocked the trinkets, opening portals to Helheim which several Elementary Inves leaped out of. From another portal dropped a Byakko Inves which snarled alongside the others.

Rosalia gulped, now losing her previous confidence. Fighting Inves was dangerous since they seemed to have a resistance to Sword Skills and she knew better than to fight in a battle she was sure to lose.

"Now hand over the SengokuDriver!" the leader of the group snapped. "We won't turn Orange for attacking you with an Inves so when we take you down, no one will be the wiser!"

Now Rosalia was becoming afraid. She had seen plenty of players looking particularly ruthless and she did not like the looks in the groups' eyes when they demanded the Driver she held. Wasn't she dealing with college kids or something? They looked like they honestly wanted to kill her so long as they got the Driver back!

"Hey, come on," she tried pleading. "This is just a game, okay? It's not like you guys can't find another one, right?"

"You honestly think this is all a game? It's our lives on the line here!" the leader snapped. "Get her!"

The Inves all bellowed and charged towards Rosalia with their claws raised in preparation for a kill. Rosalia screamed and frantically charged an Arc Sword Skill which allowed her to swing her spear in a wide arc. She managed to clip several of the Inves and knock them back, but the Byakko Inves ignored the blow and swatted her in the side, knocking her away and taking out some of her HP as she landed on the ground.

"Gn!" Rosalia grimaced, feeling the echo of pain from the attack. Pulling up to her knees, she saw the Inves approaching her. Now very afraid since this was the first time she had been wounded in a battle, she tried to crawl away from the Inves. In doing so, her fingers landed on the SengokuDriver she had stolen. Only staring at it for a moment, her smile returned to her lips and she got back to her feet with it clenched in her hand, leaving her spear on the ground.

"Well," she huffed, wiping some spit from her chin. Since you all want to play this way, I suppose I'll just have to oblige won't I?" She lifted up the SengokuDriver and perhaps just to mock the group further she gave the edge of the device a sensuous kiss before bringing it to her waist, allowing the belt to wrap around her. The blank panel on the side was suddenly decorated with a lion-dog near the top with it's mane spreading over the background. The helmet in front of the mane was golden with a silver tiara wrapped around the head with a red stone in the centre. The mouthplate looked like it was a silver veil covering her features which was connected to the gold helmet. Finally the eyes were two narrow eyepieces which were almond-shaped and had a rainbow sheen.

Now the SengokuDriver was locked onto her, preventing others from using it. However, that didn't mean these guys would stop until they got the item back. Now it was a matter of pride. Of course the SengokuDriver was just a fancy belt without a Lockseed. Fortunately for her, she had one. Picking up her Lemon Lockseed, he held it up for the enraged group before trailing it down her cleavage and almost purring as she hit the switch, "Henshin."

"**LEMON!**"

A zipper appeared above Rosalia's head and opened, letting a glowing metal lemon drop from above, almost shining in the night. It stood on one end, the opposite pointing up into the air. Taking the Lockseed, Rosalia inserted it into the Driver and locked it into place.

"**LOCK ON!**"

A guitar riff began to play as the lemon slowly dropped lower towards her. Still smirking, she let her fingers trace sensuously across the Cutting Blade before she pushed it. The Lockseed split open, revealing the topside to be the inside of a lemon while the bottom half had a halberd with a lemon slice-shaped blade.

"**LEMON ARMS! MISS SEDUCTION!**"

The Lemon Arms dropped onto Rosalia's shoulders and her body was wrapped in energy before coming out in her new armor. Her torso was silver around the abdomen with gold lines running up to her bust area which was concealed in silver that stretched from shoulder to shoulder. Her collarbone area was golden and her neck had a silver choker on it. Her arms were mainly white gloves which reached to her shoulders, and diamond patterns ran down her arms revealing protective gold fabric underneath and her golden fingers were revealed. From the waist down she sported a dress that reached her ankles, but it was thin and slits were on the sides, revealing thigh high golden high heel boots which had silver diamonds running down the sides and silver at the edges at the top. A silver stripe on her upper section of her thigh gave the illusion of a garter belt which in other circumstances would have driven the teens wild.

Inside of the Lemon Arms, Rosalia's head was covered by the helmet depicted on her Driver. From there, a yellow helmet attachment landed on her, giving her a pair of horns which pointed down and rested on her shoulders, shaped almost like lemon slices, but also gave the image of the hair a European noblewoman would have. Her eyes then turned bright yellow to show the attachment was connected.

The Lemon Arms then split open. The front panel split in half and folded together to connect to her chest, the armor being yellow and having a white edge around her collar. The sides likewise folded as the sides folded underneath the curved tops which connected to her shoulders, making the image of the puffy sleeves of a European dress. The top and back of the Lemon Arms folded into a compact panel on her back. A flash brought out the Lemalberd to her hand, a large two-handed weapon. It was as long as she was tall and the axe blade was large enough to cut through a limb in one swipe. The back had a short blade and a tall spike was on top.

"Oh dear, now what will we do?" Rosalia giggled as she saw a window appear in front of her.

_ You have received Kamen Rider Sakyubasu armor!_

_You have received Lemon Arms armor!_

_You have received Lemalberd! _

"Sakyubasu? Oh I like that!" the Lemon Rider giggled before she looked down on the Inves. "Now, shall we begin?"

The Inves didn't need an order from their fuming leader and made for the next attack. Sakyubasu huffed and picked up her weapon in both hands before making a wide swing. She caught three of the Elementary Inves and knocked them back with wide gashes in their torsos from the strike. The Byakko Inves approached again and she blocked the strike before twisting around the monster and striking it in the side with the back of the blade, digging in deep. Pulling the blade out, she kicked the Byakko Inves back before thrusting with the spike on top of the weapon and nailing an Elementary Inves square in the chest. She pulled back and swung wide again, catching the last Elementary Inves in the head, bisect its head and causing it to go up in blue pixels.

"Ha! Next?" the lady Rider taunted, gesturing to the other Inves.

An Elementary Inves lashed out at her, which she blocked with the pole section of her weapon before kicking it in the face. She followed up with a jab from the tip of her weapon, piercing it through and causing a considerable amount of damage. The other Inves Warriors made a mad charge for the woman, ready to tear her asunder. Sakyubasu giggled and spun once again. Her weapon cut through the air and with each spin, she cut through one of the Inves with a flash of yellow which caused them to collapse and explode. Stopping, she hefted her weapon overhead and smashed it down on top of the last Inves, blowing it up like the others.

The Byakko Inves bellowed and charged, slashing wildly at the yellow Rider. The strikes hit her chest, knocking her back with showers of red sparks which dropped her HP bar a little more. She almost lost her balance, but the Byakko Inves saw the opportunity and charged forward with another slash, knocking her flat on her back with her weapon next to her.

"Ow!" she cried out. Grunting, she sat up and grasped for her weapon, "Why you-!"

"That's right boy!" the leader of the group laughed. "Kill her so we can reset the Driver!"

"Oh I'm not dying today!" Sakyubasu snapped at the boy before she stood up and hit the handle of her weapon twice.

"**LEMON AU LAIT!**"

Sakyubasu hefted her Lemalberd over her shoulder before she began to spin it, swinging it overhead over and over again. Each time the weapon began to glow brighter and brighter and the energy collected into a large lemon slice large enough to break down a house. With a scream of exertion, she swung wide and cut through the Inves once, but kept spinning and struck it two more times before the energy faded. Were in not for all objects that weren't items in SAO being classed as _Immortal Objects_ the buildings around her would have been destroyed. As it was, the Byakko Inves screamed and fell backwards before exploding in blue pixels.

Coming to a stop, Sakyubasu hefted her weapon over her shoulder and looked back at the group of stunned adventurers, "Is that all?" Suddenly, the Lockseeds used to summon the Inves flew out of the groups' hands and into Sakyubasu's awaiting hands. "Ah, so these are my spoils? You shouldn't have."

Several of the teenagers yelped before running away, leaving the leader to growl angrily before he did the same. The lemon Rider giggled before flipping her Lockseed shut and removing it, causing the armor to dissolve back to wherever it went.

"Well, that was more fun than I thought it would be," Rosalia giggled as she turned to walk away, adjusting the SengokuDriver so it hung sexily on her hips. She also looked at the new Lockseeds she had claimed before putting them away. With the SengokuDriver, she now had a tool she could use to claim more Lockseeds. No longer would she have to trick some guy into bed with her then steal his stuff while he was asleep. Now she could keep up with the top players herself! "Looks like you're my new best friend," she said to her Lemon Lockseed before giving it a kiss.

* * *

**Tobei Tachibana's Apartment December 3rd 9: 45 AM**

"Gugh," one tired computer programmer groaned as he waited for his computer to boot up. Last night had been tiring for him, having to entertain and put up with several teenage girls as they gushed over computer players and how awesome they were. Suguha was especially defensive whenever her friends had gotten chummy about how cute her brother looked. It made his parents' visits seem absolutely tame in comparison. He was never so tired after they dropped by.

A pleasant ringing alerted him that his computer was online and working. Ignoring the tiredness of his limbs, he opened his email and looked for any new messages. He spotted one coming from a name of Suguha, making it obvious who sent it. Snickering at the antics of the schoolgirl who came into his life, he opened it to see what it was about.

_To: Tobei Tachibana_

_From: Suguha_

_Topic: Check this out!_

_Guess what? My friend decided to show the world what's happening with the players in SAO and also what you've been doing to try and help them so she posted the video on her blog! It's gone viral! Everyone wants to see! My parents were so thankful to see Onii-chan is okay but they are worried about him fighting so much so they have a mixed opinion towards you. Here's a link to the blog so you can read the comments!_

It took all of the control Tobei had not to spit out the coffee he was drinking when he saw Suguha's message. He furiously prayed that it was just a bad joke or spam of some sort. Clicking on the provided link, his heart sank when he saw Illfang the Kobold Lord getting up to fight the raid party that had come to challenge him.

"Oh crap," he groaned. "The cops are going to fry me."

_To Be Continued…_

_**A/N: The Peach Lockseed, Momokusari, and the activation chant was a creation of Malunis and can be seen on his Deviantart page. I saw it and just couldn't keep it from appearing in this fic. For those of you who are sticklers, yes I did get his permission to use it. Go check out his page if you want to see it. **_


End file.
